The Alliance is Dead, Long Live the Alliance
by Desaix
Summary: Earth has been declared indefensible, and is being abandoned. The Alliance is collapsing into Arussian Space, and is calling in the Vehicle Voltron to make certain Arus will accept them.
1. Default Chapter

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt1.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:10 PM  
  
Alliance is Dead, Long Live the Alliance!  
A Voltron Fanfic  
by David A. Tatum  
  
Disclaimer: Insert your favorite "I don't own it, WEP does" statement here.  
  
Author's Notes: In this fanfic, I use characters and equipment from Vehicle  
Voltron. I don't remember anything at all about Vehicle Voltron- I only  
know a couple of the characters from other Voltron fanfics. If I make any  
mistakes, let me know.  
  
Don't expect this fic to be written very quickly. I've got MANY other  
fanfics I'm already working on. For a complete list of my UNFINISHED  
fanfics, here you go in no particular order:  
  
1. Return of the Sisters (Ranma)  
2. Three Souls, One Heart (Ranma. Some lemony parts.)  
3. Patchwork (Ranma)  
4. Feudal Honeymoon (Ranma\Inu Yasha, no parts yet released. NOT a lemon.)  
5. Language Lessons (Oh, My Goddess\Ranma. MAY have lemony side-stories)  
6. Patlabor: Personal Files (Patlabor)  
7. Patlabor: Personal Files OAVs (a series of Oneshots related to Patlabor:  
Personal Files. None yet released)  
8. Noa the Submissive Seductress (Silly, title tentative, lemon (aka NC-17),  
Patlabor. Originally an April Fools fanfic that I converted to a non-April  
Fools fanfic. So far, just the first oneshot completed)  
9. Tylor's Fury (Irresponsible Captain Tylor)  
10. Untitled (Princess Mononoke. May have lemony parts in the future,  
undecided though)  
11. Untitled Side Stories (Princess Mononoke- a series of 4 oneshots, one  
completed so far)  
12. Titled (Slayers)  
13. Discoveries (Ushio and Tora)  
14. Guide in the Wilderness (Rurouni Kenshin (a.k.a. Samurai X))  
15. The Rebel Esper (Kimagure Orange Road)  
16. Return of the Lovely Eyepatch (Jubei-chan, no parts yet released.  
Mildly lemony part planned)  
17. A Thousand Years Until Revenge (DBZ, much to my shame ^_^. Release of  
the prolog and first chapter to some venues should coincide with this  
release to ff.net)  
  
As you can see, well, my plate is kinda full, this being number 17 in my  
ongoing fanfics list. So, even though against my better judgment I'm  
starting this fic while the creative juices are still flowing, I don't think  
it will be moving very quickly after I get through this first spurt. But I'  
m not giving up on ANY of the fics listed above, so I won't give up on this  
one, either. Just don't expect it to be finished any time in the next, oh,  
5 years or so. (That's right- I'm projecting to be finished with everything  
in five years. Um... that may not be enough time, but I'll try).  
-------------------------  
  
The unusual precautions taken for this Alliance meeting were stunning, to  
say the least. Each council member was sequestered into a special room,  
where no-one could see who they were. When someone spoke, their voices were  
distorted to prevent identification. The vote was also to be in secret.  
  
Anonymity was essential to this particular session.  
  
"It's just not enough. The best we've been able to do is postpone defeat  
with several holding actions," one councilmember was saying- likely a  
female. "Face it, gentlemen. We're losing this war."  
  
"There are always the Voltron teams!" one voice escaped from the outraged  
cries of the other council members.  
  
"Voltron has been a great help in delaying the inevitable," the female  
snapped back, "But Voltron cannot win this war alone. Not even two Voltrons  
can- we're fighting on WAY too many fronts against way too many opponents.  
We simply can NOT win, fighting as we are."  
  
"Then what do you suggest? That we surrender? That we submit to Drule  
slavery and tyranny?"  
  
The female hesitated. "No. That is not what I'm advocating. I'm thinking,  
though... we may have to dissolve the alliance. Or should I say divide it-  
allow one half of it to continue to fight in a unified manner, while the  
other half would have to fend for itself."  
  
More murmurs throughout the crowd. "Abandon half of our brother and sister  
planets to destruction? Are you insane!?"  
  
"Please! Let me finish!" she cried over the uproar. After a few moments,  
the assembly settled down. "Now, portions of the alliance are indefensible,  
at the moment. If we were to eliminate one of our enemies, however...."  
  
She continued explaining her plan. When she was complete, she called for a  
vote....  
  
* * * * *  
  
Meanwhile, on Planet Arus, Pidge relaxed into the main seat at Castle  
Control. He'd just come back from the bathroom, and decided to do a quick  
check to see if any messages came while he was off station.  
  
"Hey, something from Pollux! How is Bandor? And I wonder if Sven and  
Romelle are back from their latest diplomatic mission!" He opened the  
recorded message, and read. As he did, his eyes widened in pleasant shock.  
  
"Oh, wow. Oh, WOW! I've just GOT to tell the guys about this!"  
  
Quickly printing out the message, he burst out of the room, deciding his  
duty as the officer on watch was less important than letting the guys hear  
what was about to happen with their off-world friends. The alarms would let  
them know if any enemies were coming in, anyway.  
  
Only seconds after the door closed behind Pidge, a light indicating a new  
message arriving started flashing, unnoticed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Pidge!" Keith snapped as the young space explorer burst into the duty  
lounge. Lance, Hunk, and the Princess were all seated in various places  
around the room- Lance and Hunk playing some kind of card game, Keith  
reading a book on Arussian law and customs, and Allura sitting at his side,  
reading a book on military tactics that Keith had suggested to her.  
Occasionally, she had questions for him, and he had questions for her, but  
perhaps they were sitting just a touch closer than was needed to discuss  
their various studies. Not that either of them noticed. "What are you  
doing here? Why aren't you on station?!"  
  
Pidge looked apologetic. "Sorry, Keith- I was just so excited I forgot what  
I was supposed to be doing. But you guys have GOT to see this message we  
just got from Pollux- Prince Bandor sent it, but I wouldn't be surprised if  
we got another one soon from Romelle and Sven."  
  
Keith raised a stern eyebrow to show his disapproval at Pidge's  
inattentiveness to duty, but then smirked and shook his head. His crew  
might not be the most disciplined of soldiers, but they were dependable in a  
fight. They were entitled to get a little carried away in their fun every  
now and then, as long as no-one got hurt. "All right, Pidge- let's hear  
it."  
  
Pidge smiled, relieved that his commanding officer wasn't going to press him  
on the abandoning his post thing. "You won't believe this- Prince Bandor  
caught Sven and Princess Romelle in... um, a compromising position," he  
said, his eyes sliding to Allura, whose attention was caught by Romelle's  
name.  
  
"What kind of 'compromising position,'" Allura asked, sensing that Pidge was  
trying to avoid saying something in front of her.  
  
"Um... the kind which could result in babies later," he replied.  
  
Allura gasped. "Oh, my! What a naughty cousin I have."  
  
"It gets better," Pidge said. "Bandor wasn't alone- a number of the ruling  
council were with him. They all started shouting, about to demand that Sven  
and Romelle get wed before the scandal left their castle... when Sven told  
them all that they were already married- they'd eloped, and were just  
celebrating their honeymoon!"  
  
"Way to go, Sven!" Lance cheered his absent friend.  
  
"Way to go, Romelle, you mean," Allura corrected. "Sven is a great catch-  
any girl would love to have them. And she did the right thing in eloping- I  
don't look forward to all the pomp and circumstance that accompanies a royal  
wedding, myself."  
  
Pidge laughed. "Well, I don't think she quite got away with it. Her  
ministers have insisted on at least a formal celebration of her 'secret'  
marriage, and Romelle had no choice but to agree. We're all going to be  
invited, by the way."  
  
Keith rubbed his chin, contemplating this revelation. "Hmm... they haven't  
given Sven any trouble over his not being a prince, have they?"  
  
"I quote Romelle's words on the subject, 'the universe is scarce of worthy  
princes nowadays. Men who act princely are good enough,'" Allura stated.  
"We were talking about that very subject last time she was here."  
  
Lance smirked. "And just why were you asking her about that, Princess?" he  
asked.  
  
"I was telling the story of the near disaster from the last supposed prince  
who tried to court me," Allura explained, blushing slightly. That wasn't  
the whole reason, but she certainly didn't want to explain that she was  
actually talking about a certain dark-haired savior from that disaster.  
"When I mentioned Nanny's great visions of me being married to a handsome  
prince, Romelle let me know what she thought on the subject."  
  
"Any 'men who act princely' around here, Princess?" Lance asked smugly.  
  
Keith interrupted before she could answer. "I suspect Pidge is the most  
princely of us all... but I think he's disqualified, since he left his post  
without permission to spread some tabloid gossip," he chastised the young  
man with a smile to take the sting off of it. "No punishment this time,  
Pidge, but you'd better get back to Castle Control and stick to your shift  
right now. And, if there are any other juicy tidbits from Pollux- or  
anywhere else, for that matter- don't forget that we've all got com units  
and call us instead of coming down here, got it?"  
  
Pidge flushed, embarrassed, and quickly left the room, muttering, "Right,  
chief. Sorry... I'd better go now."  
  
Faking a look of intense thought, the Princess decided to get back at Keith  
for the poor boy- the reprimand seemed a little harsh to her. "You know, I  
suppose I'm not in the same situation as Romelle was. I mean, there is at  
least ONE good prince out there... Bandor would have made an excellent  
husband if he weren't her sister. But since he isn't mine, maybe I should  
consider taking him as a suitor!"  
  
Lance and Hunk both realized the joke she was playing, but Keith took her  
all too seriously. His jaw dropped open, and he couldn't speak for a few  
moments. "But... but..."  
  
A twinkle in her eye, Allura glanced at him. "But?"  
  
"But... he's... he's your cousin!"  
  
"Yes, well... I understand it isn't unheard of in the royalty. Must keep  
the bloodline true blue with nobility and all that. And it's not like he's  
a CLOSE cousin or anything."  
  
"But Allura!" Keith exclaimed. Lance's eyes widened, hearing his usually  
unflappable commander call the Princess by her name for the first time he  
could recall. Hunk, however, remained oblivious.  
  
"Yes?" she said, also noticing that he was not referring to her by her  
title.  
  
"I thought you and I... I thought we... I..."  
  
Allura shook her head to keep from laughing at how seriously he was taking  
this. She decided to let him off the hook. "Keith, I'm just kid-"  
  
"I thought you said you loved me!" he exclaimed, not paying attention. "How  
can you marry someone else when-"  
  
That brought even Hunk to full attention. "She WHAT?" both he and Lance  
exclaimed.  
  
Allura brushed brightly, turning the color of Keith's jumpsuit. "KEITH!"  
she shouted. "I was joking about Bandor! And I thought we were going to  
keep that a secret!"  
  
Keith blinked, realizing what he'd just blurted out to the whole room. "I'  
m... sorry. But don't SCARE me like that! You know how difficult it was  
for me to deal with the whole 'you're a princess, I'm just a commoner'  
thing."  
  
"Wait a minute," Lance said, nosing in. "Back up a moment here- Princess,  
when DID you tell Keith that you loved him, exactly? And how come you're  
hiding it from the rest of us? For that matter, HOW are you hiding it from  
the rest of us?"  
  
Keith and Allura looked at each other briefly, trying to gauge how much the  
other was willing to reveal. "Um... there's no real story behind that. We  
just talked about it one day when I was recovering from some minor injuries  
in the medical bay," Keith explained. "She was a little scared that if I  
kept getting hurt like that, she wouldn't ever get a chance to tell me what  
she felt."  
  
"And we haven't been hiding it, exactly," Allura continued for him. "We  
just decided we'd hold off on... things... until the war with planet Doom  
calmed some. Yes, we were keeping it a secret, but there wasn't much TO  
keep secret, except... well, we sort of came to an understanding."  
  
Lance and Hunk both looked like they still had questions, but neither one of  
them had a chance to before the beeper on Keith's com unit. "Keith here.  
Go," he answered into it, cutting off everyone else.  
  
"Keith, it's Pidge. When I got back up here I discovered there was a  
message waiting for all of us from Galaxy Garrison. High priority, but it  
requires a lot of clearances- I can't open it without the rest of us, the  
Princess, and Coran all here for optical identification confirmation."  
  
Keith raised an eyebrow at that. "That's odd. We'll be right up there."  
He turned to the others. "You heard him, guys- let's go."  
  
Allura stopped him from rushing out the door with a gentle hand on his  
elbow. "Wait, all of you," she began. "Can we... can you two please  
promise me that you won't let Nanny or Coran know what we just talked about  
in here? I... I don't want to have to deal with the objections I know they'  
ll have just yet."  
  
"I promise, Princess- my lips are sealed," Hunk announced.  
  
"I won't say anything in front of them," Lance said, a smirk forming on his  
face. "But I reserve the right to tease you guys when we're alone."  
  
"Lance," Keith said, a warning tone in his voice.  
  
Allura, however, had no objections to that deal. "Sure thing, Lance. I  
wouldn't expect otherwise."  
  
Keith sighed. "Well, enough gabbing. Let's head to Castle Control. It  
might be something important."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lisa watched as Jeff left the conference room where he and several of the  
other senior officers aboard the Explorer had disappeared to moments ago.  
It was a strange communiqué they had received- requiring several people to  
give optical identity confirmation- but the meeting to read that message had  
just broken up and Jeff, apparently quite shaken, was the first to leave.  
  
"What was that all about?" she asked, concerned. She'd never seen him so  
pale, before.  
  
"Uh, a situation report and new orders," he said, not quite comprehending  
what he'd just heard. "The meeting is still going on, but the Captain  
wanted me to start us towards are new destination."  
  
"Where to?" Lisa asked, still unsure of why he seemed to be in such shock.  
  
"Arus."  
  
"Arus? Why there?" she asked, surprised. They hadn't been to Arus in a  
while, but last she'd heard the Lion Voltron was doing a very good job of  
bottling up the Doom Empire.  
  
Jeff shook his head. "I can't tell you- orders- but trust me: you don't  
want to know."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Paul Drege, Pilot: Green Lion. Granted rank of Lieutenant Commander under  
45021-pre:2-C. Confirmed."  
  
Pidge cheered. "All right! A promotion!"  
  
"Henry Firestone, Pilot: Yellow Lion. Granted rank of Lieutenant Commander  
under 45021-pre:2-C. Confirmed."  
  
"Sounds like we all got promotions, little buddy," Hunk said, ruffling the  
young man's hair.  
  
"Lancelot Aragorn, Pilot: Red Lion. Granted rank of Commander under  
45021-pre:2-C. Confirmed."  
  
"I'm catching up to ya, chief," Lance said, smirking at Keith. "There's no  
WAY they promoted you to flag rank already."  
  
"Keith Lockhart, Pilot: Black Lion. Command of Lion Voltron Forces.  
Granted rank of Vice Admiral under 45021-pre:2-C. Confirmed."  
  
Pidge whistled. "I think you were wrong, Lance- seems to me Keith is  
pulling away from you."  
  
"Not only did you get promoted to flag rank," Lance said, aghast. "You got  
JUMPED to a three-star Admiral. How the hell did you DO that?"  
  
"Allura, Princess of the Royal House of Arus, Pilot: Blue Lion. Granted  
rank of Captain under 45021-pre:3-A, Special Order of Space Marshal's  
Office. Confirmed," the computer said in monotone. The entire room was  
startled at that statement- as far as they knew, Galaxy Garrison had never  
formally recognized the Princess as the pilot of the Blue Lion, much less  
given her a rank and official position.  
  
"Keith, when-" she started to ask.  
  
"I have no idea, Princess," he said. "Maybe that's what this is all about."  
  
"Coran d'Orick. Prime Minister, Arus. Command and Control, Arus. Granted  
rank of General, Planetary Forces, under 45021-pre:3-B, Special Order of the  
Space Marshal's Office. Confirmed."  
  
"Why did they make ME an officer?" Coran cried, startled.  
  
The message cued up. "All identities required, confirmed. Play message  
now?"  
  
"Yes," Keith said. Coran keyed in the final code, and the message started  
playing. Space Marshal Graham's stern face appeared on the screen, and his  
recorded message started playing.  
  
"Attention, Voltron force. I'm contacting you now to inform you of a number  
of things. Most of them, you will not like- I doubt anyone but the Drule  
will like most of them, but this is very important.  
  
"First off, I have made Princess Allura's status in the Galaxy Garrison  
official, with the rank of Captain. I'm also making you second in command  
of the Lion Voltron Force, as Keith's reports seem to indicate your skills  
have improved to allow you to fulfill this duty. I also gave promotions to  
everyone in the Force- especially Keith. You may all think this is a good  
thing, but you won't when you hear why I had to do it."  
  
"It has to be something drastic to promote me to Vice Admiral," Keith said,  
concerned. "I REALLY don't like this, guys."  
  
"As of 1800, our time," Graham continued, "The Alliance Council has declared  
Earth indefensible from Drule invasion, and half of the Alliance has  
dissolved. We have loaded up a massive refugee fleet, and will be  
abandoning the planet as soon as possible. All forces still under Galaxy  
Garrison control will be rendezvousing here, at Earth command, within 24  
hours. We will be immediately heading to your sector of the galaxy. From  
there, we will move to utterly wipe out the Doom Empire, so as to allow for  
us to withdraw our forces from that sector and then return to recover Earth.  
  
"Your promotions are designed to give you official status when our forces  
arrive. Keith, we're sending a complete list of our warships and their  
capabilities along with this message. It will be your job to have a plan  
ready when we get there- you know the situation in that sector better than  
we do. Princess... this may mean you will have to leave Arus once Zarkon is  
defeated. I... hope this will not be a permanent situation, but I doubt you  
'll be willing to give up piloting Voltron, and that is the only other  
option we know of. Further details, schematics, and additional orders  
follow."  
  
"Hell," Lance said, summing up what everyone else was thinking.  
  
Keith looked at the frozen image of the Galaxy Garrison seal that appeared  
on the screen when the message ended, thinking fast. He had a lot to plan,  
and not all of it had to do with fleet tactics. "Allura... can I talk to  
you privately for a moment?"  
  
The Princess, still a little startled herself upon hearing her planet was  
about to become the refuge for the capital of the Alliance, blinked. He'd  
slipped and called her Allura again, but she could understand why. And she  
decided she needed to talk to him, as well. "Of course, Keith."  
  
The two of them disappeared into a nearby briefing room, closing the door  
behind them. Hunk was the first to break the silence that remained. "If  
Earth is gone... then we can't go home again."  
  
Pidge shook his head. "I already lost my home, and made a new one here.  
But EARTH... I mean, no-one on any planet has ever really thought Earth  
would fall, even if the Alliance did. What happened?"  
  
The com link beeped. "Coran, could you come in here for a minute? We need  
you to be present for this," the Princess' voice erupted. "And see if you  
can get Nanny up here, too."  
  
"I'll be right there," Coran proclaimed, rushing into the briefing room with  
as much dignity as he could muster after their shared shock. A few moments  
later, Nanny came up to Castle Control and was directed to the briefing room  
by Pidge.  
  
"What do you think they're doing in there?" Pidge asked.  
  
"Maybe they're thinking about how to feed all the refugees when they  
arrive," Hunk suggested.  
  
"Must you always think about food, Hunk?" Lance snapped, irritated.  
  
"Hey! It's a valid concern!" the bulky pilot snapped back. "Besides, why  
ELSE would they ask for Nanny to be there for discussions on these refugees  
we're getting?"  
  
A muffled feminine shout of "No way! I won't support this!" with Nanny's  
distinctive trill echoed through the closed door.  
  
"Whatever they're talking about, Nanny doesn't seem happy," Pidge commented.  
  
"Earth has over seven billion people, Pidge," Hunk said. "Would you be  
happy trying to decide on a meal for 7 billion?"  
  
Nanny stormed back through the briefing room, causing all to stop and stare  
at her. She had a look of unpleasant determination on her face, and  
disappeared before they could ask her anything. A moment later, she  
returned carrying a small box, and scurried back into the room with the  
Princess, Coran, and Keith.  
  
"You know, I think I've seen that box before," Hunk said, scratching his  
chin in thought. "Down in the funeral shrine to the late Queen."  
  
"Really?" Lance said, surprised. "I wonder what that means...."  
  
Nanny returned a split second later, sighed, and motioned for the three to  
come in. "We need witnesses for all of this," she said.  
  
"All of what?" Lance asked, though he had his suspicions.  
  
"The marriage of the Princess to... to that ruffian!"  
  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	2. Chapter 2

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt2.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:11 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 2  
  
Lisa frowned. Even for classified orders, the most recent set had been kept  
much more secret than usual. So far, all anyone had been told was that they  
were going to Arus. It was such an extreme change of course that she and  
everyone else was doing all they could to find out why- and failing.  
  
Lisa, however, felt she had an 'in' to finding out what that secret was.  
Jeff- she was sure that, if she tried hard enough, she could get him to do  
anything for her... including letting her have information she wasn't  
officially supposed to have. He may not have stayed for the whole briefing  
where those orders were made, but between him, Cliff, Crik, Hawkins, and  
Newley, only Jeff was likely to answer her questions.  
  
"Hi, Lisa!" Ginger said, seeing her as she rounded a corner while she made  
her way through the corridors. Giving Lisa a doubletake, she grinned.  
"Just where ARE you going dressed like that, girl?"  
  
Lisa grimaced. In order to, uh, facilitate her interrogation, she'd figured  
that it couldn't hurt to make herself look just a tiny bit sexier by wearing  
a slightly shorter than regulation skirt and a slightly tighter-than-normal  
shirt. Not that she was necessarily going to rely on sex appeal to get her  
answers, but it couldn't hurt.  
  
She wasn't entirely comfortable with her get-up, however... it was a bit too  
much for her, and really the seduction thing wasn't entirely to her taste.  
And if there was one person on the entire ship she MOST wanted to avoid  
while she was in the process of attempting it, it was Ginger. She was a  
good friend, true, but... well, she could expect a good ribbing for this  
one. Especially if she answered Ginger's question straightforwardly.  
  
"I'm trying to figure out what our orders are," she said stiffly. Not a  
lie, but not exactly an admission, either.  
  
"Ah- going to talk to Jeff, huh?"  
  
Lisa flushed. "Well, um-"  
  
Ginger laughed as she made her way passed the embarrassed girl and rounded  
the corner of the hallway. "Good luck, girl. Lemme know how it turns out!"  
  
Lisa started rushing in the opposite direction, hoping desperately that she  
could avoid further embarrassment. Maybe this was a bad idea after all...  
  
* * * * *  
  
All five members of the Voltron Force currently on planet Arus looked  
shell-shocked- all of them for completely different reasons. Allura looked  
ecstatic, but also very confused and somewhat uncertain. Keith was fiercely  
determined and perhaps just a touch contented as well, but the enormity of  
what he was getting ready to do was just starting to dawn on him, and the  
emotional consequences of the upcoming event were starting to show on his  
face.  
  
Lance was unsure whether to congratulate his Captain- no, make that  
Vice-Admiral now- on his upcoming wedding, tease him about it, or yell at  
him for taking advantage of the bad news from planet Earth to secure for  
himself possibly the most beautiful women in the universe as his bride.  
Since he wasn't entirely sure yet just why they were getting married so  
soon, and since he was so surprised at the announcement the bride-to-be's  
nanny just made, he didn't have any choice other than to stand there gawking  
like an idiot until someone told him just what the hell was going on.  
  
Hunk wasn't sure what to make of things. On the one hand, the planet of his  
ancestors was being abandoned to a vicious horde who were as bad or worse  
than the Doomies, which made him unhappy. On the other hand, his commanding  
officer and good male friend was marrying his princess and closest female  
friend, which made him VERY happy. However, that marriage was awfully  
sudden- he'd just found out moments ago that the two were in love, but they  
hadn't been planning to do anything about their love for some time. Their  
relationship was going along pretty smoothly, it seemed, which was good, yet  
it was entirely possible that the news had coerced one or both of them into  
having this marriage, which was not good. Finally, he hadn't had anything  
to eat in almost three hours, which made him quite hungry- which was NOT a  
good thing when he was trying to puzzle out a dilemma, since he didn't think  
as well when he was hungry.  
  
Pidge, however, was the most stunned of them all. He hadn't heard Keith and  
Allura's declaration of love in the rec room earlier that day. For a very  
long time, he'd held a crush on the Princess. He'd realized it was  
impractical for some time to hope for anything from her, since he WAS  
several years younger than her, but he'd hoped there would be plenty of time  
still before she picked a suitor. A long enough time for him to grow up,  
perhaps, and get her to notice him. If she was getting married, though,  
that ruined all of his dreams- and WHY was she getting married just then?  
And why to KEITH, of all people? Keith certainly hadn't shown her any  
affection- if anything, he treated her protection as a duty above all else.  
Or so he thought... though it was slowly dawning on him that perhaps Keith's  
over-protective streak towards the Princess might not have entirely been  
thanks to his duty after all.  
  
He was the first to break the silence after Nanny's pronouncement.  
"Married? But... WHY?!" he blurted out.  
  
"Well, that's obvious, donchya think?. They love each other," Lance  
drawled. Pidge flinched slightly- his dream of life with the princess was  
definitely gone, and that statement just slammed it home to him. "What I  
want to know is, why NOW?"  
  
Coran shifted uncomfortably. "Because Arus needs someone who can legally  
stand up to the Alliance should there be a conflict, and we don't have one  
until Princess Allura is married."  
  
"I don't understand," Hunk said. "What difference does that make? And why  
worry about the Alliance- we're the good guys, remember?"  
  
"We are," Keith said, "But the Alliance isn't. It's the lesser of several  
evils, true, but the Alliance can be just as oppressive as anyone if they  
feel they have to be. Besides- do you really think Arus could support the  
seven billion people Earth is sending us right now?"  
  
"Quite right," Coran agreed. "We simply have to have someone powerful  
enough locally to turn them away, if need be."  
  
Lance, Pidge, and Hunk looked at each other in surprise. What were the  
Earth refugees supposed to do- drift in space?  
  
"Don't misunderstand," the Princess said, finally getting into the  
discussion. "Arus will take as many people as they can-"  
  
"But we can't take everyone," Keith interrupted. "It wouldn't be good for  
us OR for them. As soon as we can, we'll talk to Pollux and a few other  
neighboring worlds so we can arrange for them to take a portion of the  
populace as well, but unless we have someone in power here we can't make the  
Alliance look elsewhere as its dumping grounds."  
  
"Hold on, I don't get it," Pidge said, still unhappy about things as they  
stood but willing to listen. "Why do you keep acting as if Arus doesn't  
have a leader? Princess, you're in charge here, aren't you?"  
  
Allura gave a sickly smile. "Sort of... but not really. And THAT is why I  
need to get married as soon as possible."  
  
"What does 'sort of' mean, Princess? You seem to have been in charge of  
everything since we've been here," Hunk noted.  
  
Lance, however, was starting to understand. "I think I know, Hunk...  
remember our orders? 'Find and Recover Voltron. Establish a temporary  
administrative system on Arus until the formal government is restored.' The  
Princess' is ruling under that 'temporary administrative system' clause, isn  
't she?"  
  
Coran hesitated, then nodded at Lance. "Correct. Arus is a constitutional  
monarchy, officially, but our constitution has not been in use since the  
death of King Alfor and the destruction of the planetary council. Allura  
went into hiding, and we were in anarchy until you showed up and brought  
Voltron back to us. Since then, the Princess has been ruling as a de facto  
absolute monarch under writ of the Galaxy Alliance."  
  
"My marriage is the first step to restoring the constitution," Allura  
explained hesitantly. "My coronation cannot take place until after I'm  
married. And, as queen, I could call for elections and bring back the  
planetary council- something I cannot do as princess, according to our  
laws."  
  
"So you're getting married for political reasons?" Pidge asked hopefully.  
Perhaps there was still a chance for him, after all.  
  
"I would NEVER marry exclusively for political gains," the Princess snapped  
regally. Deflating slightly, she continued, "But yes, it is political."  
  
"That does NOT mean this is a sham marriage," Keith growled. "If it was,  
she would have been better off marrying the son of some village mayor or a  
nobleman or someone like that. Or," he smiled slightly, "Even Prince  
Bandor."  
  
"I love Keith," the Princess whispered. "But we weren't planning to  
seriously court each other until after the war was over."  
  
"There's no time to delay, now, however," Coran said. "The Princess must  
marry, and must be crowned Queen, before the day is out. If we don't, we  
will not have time to set up our official government before the Alliance  
forces arrive."  
  
"Which leaves us no time for all this chatter," Nanny interrupted. "I may  
not like the Princess' choice of suitor- royalty should marry royalty- but  
we don't seem to have any options. She simply won't accept anyone else  
other than this... this ruffian." She shuddered, unable to say Keith's name  
in regards to Allura. "And I don't have time to make this affair as  
grandiose as it should be... but I will do what I can. You ALL need to get  
dressed in the most formal clothing you have- Coran, you get the minister  
and invite all of the noblemen who can make it here by tonight to show up.  
I'll set my staff into decorating the throne room for the occasion and  
cooking for the reception. Allura, come with me- I'll have to see if I can  
find an appropriate dress that you'll fit in."  
  
Nanny grabbed the Princess by her arm and started leading her out of the  
room before Coran stopped her. "Wait, Nanny," he said. "We may not have  
time for all of this- the sooner we get it done, the better. I will conduct  
the ceremony myself. You can start setting up a reception if you so desire,  
but we're holding the wedding right now."  
  
Nanny's eyes widened. "You CAN'T- there's no way... you must need at least  
a little time to draw up the official documents. Can't I at least have a  
chance to get everyone appropriately dressed?"  
  
Coran stared at her hard. "You have an hour," he conceded. "We need to get  
enough done so that we can hold elections tomorrow. Portions of the  
Alliance fleet could get here within 48 hours, and even if the main convoy  
is not expected to arrive for at least a week we do not want anyone to show  
up here and find we have not put out government in place."  
  
"An hour!?" Nanny shrieked. "But-"  
  
"No buts, Nanny," Allura broke in. "We don't have time to do this properly,  
so some things will have to be sacrificed for expediency's sake."  
  
Nanny's expression hardened. "Very well. But if we have an hour, we're  
going to make the best use of that hour." Turning on the men, she snapped,  
"You all have plenty of time to put on your dress uniforms between now and  
then- hurry to it. Now, come along, Princess- we must find something for  
you, and we don't have the luxury of time."  
  
With that, she resumed leading Allura out of the room and initiating a  
whirlwind of activity- the com system started ringing moments later with  
non-secure transmissions to various members of the castle staff.  
  
The five men still in the briefing room glanced at the door they'd left from  
and blinked. Finally, Lance smirked, turning to the others.  
  
"Well, you heard her- let's get ready. Keithy, YOU should dressed first;  
you might need someone to inspect your uniform- after all, it IS your  
wedding."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What is our status?" Space Marshal Graham asked to the panel in the  
briefing room.  
  
"The plan is in operation," General Warren noted. "We've assigned every  
citizen on Earth a refugee ship to board. Now, we just have to wait for  
those ships to get here."  
  
Commodore Steele sighed. "Only 30% of the transports have arrived. The  
flotilla is assembling in orbit around Mars- that many ships orbiting Earth  
would affect the tides, and we'd flood out half of the population before we  
could evacuate them. We'll need to land them in shifts, anyway- we might as  
well start evacuating people with what we've got."  
  
Graham nodded. "Good. And the Explorer?"  
  
"I'm afraid it's too far away to arrive on Arus before a local government is  
formed- we'll have to either invade or make compromises."  
  
Graham raised an eyebrow. "Invade? Why would we invade? And what does it  
matter if there's a local government?"  
  
Steele looked disgusted. "Well, why else would you try to deny them their  
independance?"  
  
"I gave no such order- I merely asked for the Explorer to arrive on Arus to  
help keep the spaceways in the system clear of pirates for our convoy! Why  
would you think I was planning to deny their independance?"  
  
Steele paused. "Then... this ISN'T your order?" he asked, passing the Space  
Marshal a sheet of paper.  
  
"Special Order 60321  
  
"To: Patrick Steele, Commodore, Galaxy Garrison, Earth. Granted rank of  
Captain, Galaxy Garrison, under 23204-pre:1. Granted Acting-Flag under  
34392-tmp:1-A, Special Order of Space Marshal's Office.  
  
"From: Jonathan Graham, Administrative, Earth. Granted rank of Space  
Marshal under 34392-prz:1-A, Special Order of the President.  
  
"act: (Action)  
  
"1 Procure transport vessels for evacuation of Earth under command of Louis  
Desaix (see pre:1)  
  
"2 Send S.S. Explorer to Earth  
  
"-A: Objective: Clear Spaceways of hostiles which may endanger refugee  
convoy.  
  
"-B: Objective: Establish temporary Galaxy Garrison Headquarters on Arus  
Surface.  
  
"-C: Objective: Prevent formation of independant government on Arus.  
Failing this, demand treaty with Arus which will permit resettlement of  
Earth population on Arus. Use maximum force, if necessary.  
  
"pre: (Promotions and Endorsements)  
  
"1 Promote Louis Desaix to Acting Flag rank, assign as Commodore of Refuge  
Fleet.  
  
"prz: (Presidential Amendments and Orders)  
  
"1 Instruct S.S. Explorer to maintain radio silence."  
  
Graham frowned. "This is similar to what I wrote, but... I did NOT include  
act:2-C. And there were no prz's when I sent it to you."  
  
Steele gasped as the implication hit him. "You mean... someone intercepted  
and altered your orders?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"This is not good. There are two questions we have to ask- HOW and WHY?"  
General Warren growled. "And what can be done to fix this?"  
  
"I think it's obvious as to why- someone wants to get rid of the Lion  
Voltron and any other support we might have from Arus," Steel snorted.  
"Which would completely defeat the purpose of our plan- the Voltrons are the  
only ships capable of handling Robeasts, and all of our enemies know that."  
  
Graham rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, I can't do anything about the  
Explorer- they're under radio silence. But I sent a personal recording of  
my message to Arus- they can't have altered that without breaking the  
codeblock. It will give away that we know there's someone intercepting our  
orders, but whoever's doing it will be expecting that." He turned around in  
his chair to the communications viewscreen. "Commodore Steele, see if you  
can raise Arus- I think this is important enough that we'll have to dispense  
with the pre-recording that is needed for recording."  
  
"Right away, sir," Steele said, typing a few commands into a nearby  
keyboard. After a few minutes, he frowned. "Sir, I am unable to raise  
Arus. The transmission is being jammed."  
  
"Shit!" Graham snapped. "They're two steps ahead of us. Keep trying,  
Steele- if you can't get through, the best we can do is to look for that  
leak... and pray we don't find a hostile Arus when we arrive."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Um, Chip?" Jeff said.  
  
Chip, cleaning and polishing small model of the Vehicle Voltron he had  
hand-made for his brother, glanced up at his Team Captain. "Yeah, Jeff?"  
  
"You... know we're heading for Arus, right?"  
  
Chip nodded enthusiastically. "Of course- I'm looking forward to seeing  
Pidge again. It's been ages... and maybe I'll be able to show him up with  
my piloting skills!"  
  
Jeff grimaced. "Yeah... about that. Um, Chip- you're grounded for the  
duration of this mission. Hawkins' orders- I don't have any choice."  
  
Chip's eyes widened. "But... but WHY?"  
  
Jeff sighed. "You don't want to know, Chip. Now, head over to Hawkins'  
office- he's got a new assignment for you in the meantime."  
  
Chip searched Jeff's face for something that would tell him what was going  
on. Seeing absolutely no emotion on his usually expressive face worried him  
considerably. Still, there was nothing he could say, was there? "Aye, aye,  
sir!" he snapped, leaping to his feet and running out of the room- not  
because he was that enthusiastic for the duty, but rather because he didn't  
want anyone to see the tears that were forming in his eyes. Something told  
him Pidge was in serious trouble.  
  
Lisa watched the entire incident from the door and frowned. She, too, had  
noticed Jeff's emotionlessness since recieving those orders, and this latest  
development was starting to clue her in as to why. Seduction was definitely  
out as a method for getting information- much to her personal relief- but  
perhaps a bald accusation would help.  
  
"Jeff," she called.  
  
"Yes, Lisa?" he replied tonelessly.  
  
"I'd like to talk to you in private for a minute..."  
  
* * * * *  
  
'It's amazing what can be done with safety pins and ribbons,' Allura  
thought, amazed, as Nanny was furiously making last minute alterations to  
her late mother's wedding dress while she wore it. Nanny huffed something  
under her breath about her training too much for a proper princess as she  
struggled to tighten a particularly strained ribbon before continuing her  
speech on the marital duties of Arus' queen.  
  
"My child, remember you never had a proper courtship," Nanny lectured, "So I  
suggest you don't give him your innocence on the first night-"  
  
"Nanny!" Allura cried, outraged. "I don't need to be told about that."  
  
"Yes, you do, my posy," Nanny clucked. "He's a man, and a ruffian at that.  
Like any other man, he'll only have one thing on his mind-"  
  
"Nanny," Allura snapped. "I already said I don't need to be told about  
that. We'd already discussed it before calling you in."  
  
Nanny frowned. "He probably wants you to go to bed with him the very first  
night, doesn't he?"  
  
Allura hesitated, then whispered halfheartedly, "No, he wanted to wait. I'm  
the one who's insisting we don't."  
  
"Princess!" This time, it was Nanny's turn to be outraged. She was  
actually so surprised she stopped working.  
  
"Keith was speaking for me when he said this wasn't going to be a sham  
wedding. I won't let it be one. I want to have a normal courtship, but I  
also want to be sure no-one can contest our marriage by saying we've never  
consumated it. Maybe after the first night, we'll go back and pretend it  
didn't happen- at least long enough for us to get properly aquainted with  
each other. But for this night, our wedding night, we're doing everything a  
married couple is supposed to do."  
  
Nanny wanted to say something, but before she could there was a knocking.  
"Nanny, Coran asked me to come get you and tell you we've got to get  
started," Hunk said through the door.  
  
Realizing that she'd forgotten what she was doing, she shouted back, "We'll  
be done in one minute- hold on!"  
  
Making two or three real quick adjustments, Nanny ran her eye up and down  
Allura's frame. Shaking her head, she sighed.  
  
"Do I pass inspection?" Allura asked.  
  
"Well, it would have been better if you weren't quite so slim or so  
muscular, and if we'd had time to custom fit the thing, but considering that  
by the time we got this on you I only had about fifteen minutes to make  
alterations, it's not that bad." She patted down one last wrinkle. "You'll  
do."  
  
Allura smiled. "Good. Now, let's go get me married, okay?"  
  
Nanny rolled her eyes skyward. "And may heaven help us survive it."  
  
They made their way out of the room, following Hunk to the throne room where  
Coran had set up the ceremony.  
  
Allura gasped. There hadn't been much change to the room, but Nanny's staff  
had done an excellent job of placing a few decorations in the limited time  
available. Gold ribbons, flowers, candles- it looked as if they'd had a  
year to get it all decorated, not just an hour. And, best of all, in pews  
along the hall sat all of her staff. Nanny quickly lowered Allura's veil  
and then rushed passed her to take her place as her maid of honor, leaving  
Hunk to lead her up the aisle.  
  
In front of the room stood Coran, Lance, Pidge, and- best of all- Keith...  
all in their dress uniforms and looking better than she'd ever seen them  
before. Trembling slightly, she started her way up the aisle- and was  
happily surprised to hear a wedding march coming from the castle sound  
system. Perhaps it was rushed, but it was also everything she'd ever wanted  
in a wedding- a small ceremony in front of all her friends, without too much  
fanfare but still with all of the little frills that went with a good  
wedding. Her eyes getting moist, she marched down the aisle at a proper  
pace, and finally reached the altar that had been set up for her wedding.  
  
Coran stepped up and smiled at the gathering. "Welcome. As you all  
probably know, this is not a normal wedding." He glanced at Allura, his  
eyes twinkling. "After all, it's not often a Royal Princess gets married  
around here. It's even less often that she only has an hour to get ready  
for that wedding." Polite laughter erupted from the small crowd. "You've  
all done well getting it ready, and I'm sure she thanks you. But there's  
even more to make this wedding special- and that is the man our Princess has  
chosen for her husband.  
  
"Kieth," he continued. "You are perhaps the most noble man I have ever met.  
Even moreso than the most princely prince. I trust you to care for our  
Princess, and make her feel as loved and cherished as she deserves." He  
paused. "I also trust you to keep her out of too much trouble." More  
polite chuckles. "Allura, you are the daughter I never had. And when I  
heard you say that Keith was the man you wished to marry, I couldn't have  
been happier. You have chosen well. Perhaps, though, you might try and get  
him to loosen up from time to time- I fear everyone will be worked to death  
if he keeps up this pace."  
  
He paused, allowing for even more laughter. Then he got more serious.  
"Your Highness, if I weren't conducting this ceremony, I would be giving you  
away right now. Since I'm not able to do that myself, however-"  
  
"I will do it, myself," an ethereal voice said, materializing into a ghostly  
form of King Alfor. "Hello, old friend- it has been some time."  
  
Some of the castle staff who had never seen the ghost of their long-dead  
king nearly fainted at the sight. The other's, though, merely were  
surprised that he put in an appearance in a situation which was not  
planet-threatening.  
  
"Y- your Majesty," Coran stammered, swallowing hard.  
  
"I bless my daughter's marriage to this man," the spirit said. "And I give  
her away, now. Please, continue with the ceremony." He paused, pressing  
his immaterial lips to Allura's forehead. "Your mother is here with me,  
too, child- unfortunately, she lacks the power to make herself seen, but  
know that she is watching."  
  
"Yes, father," Allura whispered, tears forming in her eyes once more.  
  
With that, Alfor stepped back, fading away from sight. "I'll still be  
watching, as well."  
  
Coran cleared his throat. "Ah, well... ah hem. Yes, okay. Let us  
continue. Allura, Princess Royal of the House of Arus, Daughter of Alfor.  
Will you have this man to be your husband; to live together in the covenant  
of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep in, in sickness  
and in health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?"  
  
Allura choked up when Nanny prompted her to speak with a toe. "I will," she  
barely said.  
  
"Keith Andrew Lockhart, will you have this woman as your wife; to live  
together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor  
and keep her, in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, as long as  
you both shall live?"  
  
Without hesitation, Keith answered, "I will."  
  
Coran paused. "In a religious ceremony, I believe, I am supposed to read a  
religious passage on the blessings of marriage right here. I am not a  
priest, however, and the two of you follow different religions. However, I  
will gladly quote from what I was once told by our late king: Love is the  
only path through which we can truly be happy. Marriage is the greatest  
celebration of love in any culture in the known universe. So today, you two  
give each other the greatest of gifts: true happiness." Bowing his head  
briefly, he allowed that to sink in before moving on. Joining their hands  
together, he said, "Princess, repeat after me:"  
  
Echoing her prime minister, Allura repeated, her voice wavering the entire  
time, "I, Allura, take you, my protector and dearest champion Keith, to be  
my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for  
worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to  
cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow."  
  
Again with Coran's prompting, Kieth replied, "I, Keith, take you, my beloved  
Princess Allura, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward,  
for better and for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health,  
to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn  
vow."  
  
"Rings?" Coran said. Lance quickly pulled the ring box he had been given  
minutes before the ceremony by Coran out of his pocket, and offered it to  
Coran. Opening the box, he gave both of them a ring.  
  
Still repeating Coran's words, Allura continued, "Keith, I give you this  
ring as a symbol of my vow. With all that I am, and all that I have, I  
honor you as my husband."  
  
"Allura, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow. With all that I am and  
all that I have, I honor you as my wife."  
  
Coran smiled, joined their now-ringbearing hands together and covering them  
with his own, said, "Now that Keith and Allura have given themselves to each  
other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, and with the giving of  
rings, I can now pronounce them as husband and wife. Keith, you may kiss  
the bride!"  
  
A loud cheer went up as Keith lifted Allura's veil and gave her a kiss. It  
was not their first kiss- that had been in a hospital room when they had  
confessed their love to each other- but it was their deepest and most public  
to date.  
  
When it ended, Keith and Allura turned to the crowd and waved, acknoledging  
the cheers. Pidge's and Nanny's looked a little forced, but even they were  
genuinely pleased to see the happiness in the two young people's faces.  
  
"Now, Keith, Princess- go with Nanny. You still need to prepare for tonight  
's coronation- and possibly discuss some details for the wedding reception I  
am sure Nanny is dying to plan- before you can enjoy yourselves. Meanwhile,  
I'm going to be getting in touch with Pollux to both announce your wedding  
and to start discussions about our situation with the Alliance."  
  
Lance chuckled at the expression on Keith's face. "Sorry, chief," he  
cracked, "Looks like you can't even get a brake at your own wedding."  
  
Keith smiled at Allura, not even looking in his friend's direction. "I don'  
t think I agree with you there- I think what I got more than made up for  
it."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	3. Chapter 3

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt3.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:13 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 3  
  
"Maximum force?" Lisa exclaimed. "As in- we may have to use our Voltron  
against theirs?"  
  
Jeff sighed. "NOW do you see why I was so upset?"  
  
When she'd confronted him, he initially refused to tell her anything. She  
pleaded with him for knowledge, and he kept going back to 'orders' as to why  
he couldn't tell her. Finally, she decided she'd just ask him how far off  
her guess was.  
  
He'd agreed to that- reluctantly- and so she told him her theory. Pidge had  
gone renegade, making the Lion Voltron inoperative until his Green Lion  
could be recovered. They were sent in to backup Arus until the Green Lion  
was recovered. She was completely wrong, but at least it inspired Jeff to  
finally open his mouth.  
  
What he'd told her in response was considerably worse than she'd feared.  
Essentially, they were being ordered to conquer a friendly planet, possibly  
going head to head against another Voltron piloted by their Academy  
colleagues, most of whom had graduated higher in their class than they  
themselves did. Jeff, perhaps, stood a chance in a one-on-one dogfight  
against most of them... if the odds were otherwise even. Each Lion Ship,  
though, was as powerful as the Stratofighter. And, if it came down to a  
battle of Voltrons... well, Arus's was the original Voltron. Their own was  
comparably a bad copy with only a fraction of the more advanced technology.  
Arus's could remain in Voltron mode for an indefinite period of time, theirs  
only had five minutes. She could go on, but she didn't want to think about  
it.  
  
"If we actually do this, are we any better than the Drule?" Lisa asked  
wistfully.  
  
"No," Jeff stated bluntly. "But orders are orders. And we probably wouldn'  
t get away with it if we broke these orders."  
  
Lisa stiffened. "So... you're just going to go through with it? 'Sorry, my  
best friend from our Academy days, but we've got to go against everything we  
believe in, kill you, and ransack the planet you're sworn to protect-  
orders, you understand.' Is THAT how you want to handle this?"  
  
Jeff was across the room and grasping her by her shoulders in an instant.  
"Lisa, calm down, you're about to get histerical."  
  
"Calm down? Calm down!?" Lisa snapped, glaring at him with tears in her  
eyes. "Dammit, Jeff- we don't stand that good a chance against them, you  
know. They'll kill US, unless we sneak attack them- so I figure we're going  
to be stabbing them in the back, without even letting them know why. And  
you're telling me to CALM DOWN!?!"  
  
"Yes," Jeff said sadly, letting her go. "Because I'm not able to handle it,  
myself. I need you to help me through this... to help me figure out what to  
do."  
  
The despair in his voice broke through her anger, and Lisa couldn't help but  
feel her heart go out to the man. He- and the other officers, come to think  
of it- had been having to keep this horrible secret bottled up inside. It  
was clearly tearing Jeff up inside, eating away at his usual care-free  
exhuberance. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms up around him, trying  
to comfort him and be comforted herself. His arms returned the favor, and  
soon they were crying on each other's shoulders.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Keith was only half paying attention to the discussion of the upcoming  
coronation ceremony with half an ear. He was never very good at planning  
ceremonial stuff- or, at least, non-military ceremonial stuff. That was  
Nanny and the Princesses' forte. Instead, he was paying his attention to  
his blushing new bride.  
  
No, that's not quite right, either. He'd started out paying attention to  
his new bride, but now he was paying much more attention to the little space  
mouse on her shoulder. While changing from her bridal gown, Allura was  
aquired by the pet rodent as a nice fun ride for him (her? Keith was unsure  
if all the blue mice were males and all the pink females or not), and the  
little mouse decided to come along as she made the rounds with Nanny.  
  
Keith's mind was working on something it was far more efficient at then  
blending the appropriate amount of modern and traditional protocol to be  
followed in the ancient ceremony they were about to partake in. It was  
working on battle plans.  
  
Keith only had a week or so to develop a method for invading and utterly  
anhiliating the Doom Empire in the shortest amount of time possible. The  
problem was, there just was not enough information on his opponents. As  
much time as he spent fighting them, he'd never been able to figure out a  
method of collecting espionage which seemed safe. Now, remembering a  
certain incident or two involving a certain group of pet space mice, he was  
starting to come up with something.  
  
Or perhaps it was true that once you were promoted to flag rank, you were  
automatically granted everything you needed to know about developing fleet  
tactics and that sort of thing. At least, that was the old theory he and  
Jeff had come up with in the Academy.  
  
Keith was uncertain how he felt about meeting Jeff this time. They were  
good friends, or at least had been back in the Academy, but Keith was  
uncertain that he and Jeff would be on the same side this time. He  
sincerely hoped that a battle could be avoided, but for some reason that  
seemed unlikely right about then.  
  
"I'm not sure. What about you, Keith?" Allura said to him. Both she and  
Nanny were looking at him, expectantly.  
  
Blinking, he realized he had no idea what she was asking him about. He hadn  
't been paying enough attention to follow the conversation, and now he was  
being called on to make a decision. Rather than admit weakness, he decided  
to give a neutral answer.  
  
"Um, whatever you think is best would be fine," he said.  
  
The Princess frowned. "I was asking you if anyone on the force was allergic  
to shellfish. Keith, don't you care about this?"  
  
Keith winced. "Sorry, Princess. No, no-one is."  
  
"Keith, I'm your wife. You DON'T need to call me Princess any more," she  
said sternly.  
  
"Er, sorry, Allura. Habit," he apologized. "And I DO care about the  
ceremony, but coronations weren't covered at the Academy, which is making it  
difficult for me to follow this discussion. I'm trying to pay attention,  
but sometimes what you're talking about goes over my head."  
  
Allura relaxed slightly, but still didn't look happy. "Okay, I can  
understand that. But why didn't you say something? I'm sure there are  
other things you can be doing right now- I won't be offended if you can't  
help me, here, and so go to deal with some of the other problems we're  
having."  
  
Keith flushed. "Well, we just got married. I don't WANT to do anything  
else right now- and really, there's not much else I can do at this point. I  
can't make any plans until we get the government officially established  
here, and Coran is already dealing with planet Pollux."  
  
Allura was about to reply when something occurred to her, derailing her  
train of thought. "Say, Keith- did we remember to let Coran know that Sven  
and Romelle eloped?"  
  
Nanny, who also hadn't heard about that, blinked. "They ELOPED? A princess  
can't elope! That's just not proper!"  
  
Eyes twinkling with amusement, Allura said, "Well, Romelle did anyway. And  
I couldn't be happier for them- they deserve a break."  
  
Nanny raised her hands and eyes heavenward in frustration. "But she's a  
PRINCESS! Oh, what's this universe coming to?" Turning her attention to  
Keith, she asked, "Tell me, how exactly is it that you space explorers keep  
snatching up all the eligible royalty?"  
  
Keith smirked. "I believe Allura once quoted Romelle as saying, 'the  
universe is scarce of worthy princes nowadays. Men who act princely are  
good enough.' Bandor's too young- and a relative besides- and the only  
other real prince we've run into around here is Lotor, so I must say I  
agree."  
  
"But, still, royalty is expected to follow a certain set of guidelines. And  
princesses marrying princes is one of them!" Nanny proclaimed.  
  
Allura sighed. "Nanny, there aren't any princes out there worth marrying.  
Or would you doom me and Romelle to dying as, I believe the phrase goes,  
'Old Maids?'"  
  
Nanny finally relented. "I suppose not. But even if there was no other  
choice for Her Highness other than to marry that hooligan, there should have  
been a proper wedding!"  
  
Keith scratched his chin in a melodramatic pose of thought. "Hmm... I'm a  
ruffian, and Sven is a hooligan. Does that mean you think more of me or  
less of me?"  
  
Nanny was so flabbergasted she could only huff and puff a few times. Seeing  
the expression on her governess' face, Allura could only laugh. Trying to  
reign in her her laughter, the Princess said, "Nanny, you really are pretty  
hard on the boys. Considering how many times over our lives have been saved  
by them, don't you think it's time to promote them? At least up to  
scoundrels, perhaps?"  
  
Smiling ruefully, Nanny straightened up and self-consciously straightened  
her clothing. "I suppose that wouldn't be too much to ask."  
  
"Good. Then let's get back to planning this coronation," Allura said.  
Turning to Keith, she said, "I know you said you wanted to stay with me,  
since we just got married, but since you find all this talk so  
incomprehensible, perhaps you could go help Coran work out the Earth refugee  
plan, instead? That sounds more like the sort of thing you enjoy, anyway."  
  
Keith hesitated. He genuinely did not want to leave her on their wedding  
day... though for some reason it didn't quite feel like their wedding day at  
the moment. "If you're sure you don't want me around..."  
  
"Of course I want you around," Allura said, smiling softly at him. She  
reached over and grabbed his forearm, giving him an affectionate squeeze.  
"But not if you're just going to be bored. Go and help Coran- that's just  
as important."  
  
Keith felt like kissing her would be appropriate before saying goodbye, but  
he also felt uncomfortable with public displays of affection- especially  
considering the current company. Nanny was standing right there, looking at  
the both of them, so he just sighed and nodded. "I'll see you later  
tonight, Prin- ah, Allura."  
  
Giving his arm one last squeeze, the Princess released him and nodded.  
"Go." He turned to leave, and as he walked away she continued, "And while  
you're gone, practice calling me by my name, okay?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Steele!" Space Marshal Graham snapped, entering the other man's office.  
  
"Yes, sir?"  
  
"Any progress raising Arus yet?"  
  
Steele sighed. "Afraid not, sir. Whoever it is who is doing all this is  
still jamming us."  
  
Graham thought for a moment. "How long would it take our fastest ship to  
get to Arus?"  
  
"Hmm... Captain Nathaniel Seiroku commands the Atropos. According to him,  
they've souped up the engines of his Lancer-class light cruiser enough that  
he could make the trip in approximately thirty-seven hours, sir, assuming  
they didn't run into any difficulties."  
  
"And how far away is the Explorer from Arus?"  
  
"Thirty two hours, I believe, sir."  
  
"Hmm... prep the Atropos for launch. I want it ready in five minutes."  
  
"But it won't get there in time to stop a conflict, sir," Steele reminded  
him.  
  
"No, it won't. But it can probably get me close enough to break through the  
jamming," Graham sighed.  
  
Steele's eyes widened. "You, sir? But then who will direct the  
evacuation?"  
  
Graham grinned darkly. "I'm sure that, between you, General Warren, and...  
Commodore Desaix, wasn't it? I'm sure that, between the three of you, the  
evacuation will go smoothly. I'm going to take care of the more difficult  
job- making sure we have some place to evacuate TO."  
  
"Yes, sir," Steele said. "I'll contact Captain Seiroku immediately."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey, Chief. Bored of the Princess already?" Lance asked as Keith joined  
his team-mates and Coran in Castle Control.  
  
"Hardly. Just figured I'd go where I was more useful, so she and I could  
have some free time together a little sooner." He glanced up at the blank  
viewscreen. "You guys talk to Pollux already?"  
  
Lance shook his head, getting serious for a second. "No. There's some kind  
of interference. We aren't sure if we're being jammed or if it's something  
natural, but at the moment we're more concerned with breaking through it,  
whatever it is. Pidge thinks he can boost the gain enough to open a channel  
in a few minutes."  
  
"That's odd," Keith murmured. "Well, when we're done here, I'm going to  
have another job for Pidge, but it can wait until we've taken care of this."  
  
"Any chance that Lotor's behind this jamming?" Lance asked.  
  
"There's a chance," Keith considered. "I'm almost hoping that it is,  
actually. If it IS jamming and ISN'T Lotor, then... well, I can't think of  
who else it would be besides the Alliance. And if it's the Alliance, then  
they're planning to take over Arus regardless of whether we have a  
government in place or not."  
  
Lance stared at him briefly. "Keith... went did Arus become 'us' and the  
Alliance become 'them?'"  
  
Keith smiled slightly. "Arus became 'us' the moment I swore fealty to the  
Princess. The Alliance might not have become 'them' at all- but if they  
plans to ignore the independent government of Arus, they will be. And if  
they're jamming our ability to communicate with our local allies, then they'  
re planning something." He paused. "Now I'm very glad I'm here. I think  
when we get through I should alert Prince Bandor to get his fleet on call,  
and to keep open a constant line with us. We may need his help... or he may  
need ours."  
  
Lance looked at him seriously. "Do you think you could take us against the  
whole Alliance?"  
  
Keith snorted. "Not while they've still got the Explorer and their Voltron.  
The Vehicle team may have some problems, like the connection time limit, but  
they're still a match for us. And, supported by a fleet as large as the  
Alliance has, we're doomed if they go against us." He paused. "And,  
according to their own reports, the Explorer is going to be here the day  
after tomorrow."  
  
Lance paused, taking all that in. "If they're giving you information like  
that, then why do you assume the Alliance is planning to invade?"  
  
Keith frowned. "Oh, I believe Space Marshal Graham has no intention of  
attacking us. I trust him. It's the politicians on Earth that worry me-  
they're allowing the Alliance to fall apart around them. Why? How did  
Earth suddenly become indefensible, when it has been the most powerfully  
defended planet in the know universe for decades? Voltron wouldn't be able  
to penetrate the automatic defenses of Earth, you know- not without a battle  
fleet to back it up, at least. So, this sudden decision makes no sense."  
He paused. "I also trust Jeff... and even Hawkins and Newley. They're good  
men. But the Alliance may have lied to them, told them we're being  
unreasonable, demanded that we be 'dealt with.'" He shook his head. "I  
trust Arus and Pollux, because we're good people and so are Sven, Bandor,  
and Romelle. But Earth politicians... I dunno. Who made this decision to  
abandon Earth? They haven't told us, you know."  
  
Lance nodded. "Those are all good questions, Keith, but... why would the  
politicians want us divided? Isn't a unified Alliance better for all of  
us?"  
  
Keith pondered that. "I'm not sure. I've got a few ideas, but-"  
  
"I've got it!" Pidge's enthusiastic cry rang out from under the bulkheads  
that made up the communications equipment. "Comm link ready to be  
established. Arus to Pollux transmissions are now available in both secure  
and non-secure modes."  
  
Coran nodded. "Good work. Now, let's get things started, shall we?"  
  
"Make it secure," Keith suggested. "We're going to be discussing things we  
don't want anyone else to find out."  
  
"Of course, Keith," Coran said. "Secure line now open."  
  
It took a few seconds for Pollux to respond to the signal, but it was fewer  
than they had expected. Standing their, on the viewscreen, were a very  
happy-looking Sven and a madly blushing Romelle. They were further apart  
than was typical for them and their clothing was somewhat disheveled- and,  
in Sven's case, lipstick-stained- but they were still looking fairly  
attentive.  
  
"Hi, guys! We've been trying to get through for hours, but there's a  
magnetic storm somewhere between us cutting us off," Romelle chirped  
overenthusiastically. "Glad to see we finally got through."  
  
Keith relaxed slightly. If it was a magnetic storm, it might still be  
Haggar, but it was unlikely that the Alliance was trying to block their  
communications. "Glad to see you, too. We weren't sure what it was that  
was interfering," he said, stepping up to be situated better in their  
viewscreen. "I think you have some news for us, and then we'll also have  
some news for you."  
  
Romelle frowned slightly in mock disappointment. "Well, I'm afraid my  
little brother spoiled our news, but we'll let you know anyway- besides,  
there were a few details he didn't know at the time."  
  
"We have yet to let Coran know of that message, Your Highness," Keith noted.  
"So I give you back the enjoyment of letting him know your little secret."  
  
Romelle nodded approvingly. "Thank you, Keith. Coran, we've got a surprise  
for you. A few weeks ago, Sven and I, um, eloped."  
  
For a brief moment, the normally inflappable Prime Minister of Arus was  
startled enough to allow his mouth to fall open in a gape. With a great  
amount of mental exertion, he quickly reasserted control, however, and  
returned to his normal, stiff pose. "Congradulations, Your Highness. I am  
greatly heartened at the news that you two have found happiness finally,  
after such incredible hardship."  
  
Romelle laughed. "Well said, Coran. Well said." She paused. "And now, I  
wish to invite you all- and my dearest cousin, wherever she may be, to the  
celebration of our wedding. As the plans stand now, in their roughest  
stage, we will be holding this reception in three weeks time. I sincerely  
hope you will come."  
  
Coran's good humor vanished in an instant. "Well, we shall do our best,  
your highness, but it may be impossible," he said. "We have a bit of a  
crisis at the moment. One which we will most likely need you and your  
planet's help on."  
  
The smiles on Sven and Romelle disappeared as well. "Oh, dear- what is the  
problem?"  
  
Keith decided to take the lead and explain. "We recieved orders earlier  
today that the Alliance is destabilizing, apparently due to the Drule  
conflict. Earth has been declared indefensible and will be evacuated. The  
refugee ships are being directed here, to Arus." He paused, looking into  
Sven's eyes. He knew his old first officer would understand what he was  
about to say. "We're going to take in as many as we can, but there is no  
way we can safely recieved all seven billion people on Earth. We will have  
to turn some away."  
  
Sven recognized the problem right away. "Keith, Arus' government-"  
  
"Isn't yet officially independant, I know," Keith nodded. "It will be  
tomorrow- we've already set everything necessary in motion. The Princess  
will be crowned Queen tonight, and tomorrow elections will be held for  
council positions."  
  
"But Allura would have to get married first for that to happen," Romelle  
said. "Or did you find a way around that?"  
  
Keith shook his head uncomfortably. "Uh, not exactly. See, that's a piece  
of news we were planning to tell you- Allura and I got married about an hour  
and a half ago." He scratched the back of his head. "We didn't exactly  
elope like you two did, but it was a lot more sudden than anyone was  
expecting...."  
  
Romelle laughed. "And here I was, afraid of the teasing my little cousin  
was going to give me. Well, this certainly ends that problem."  
  
Keith, however, was not distracted from the point of this bit of news. "At  
any rate, assuming the Alliance respects our independence, we were wondering  
if we could direct some of the refugee fleet to Pollux."  
  
"Of course," Romelle said, back to business once again. "I'll talk to my  
advisors, and let you know how many we can take in as soon as possible."  
  
Sven had his own concerns, as well. "I vill talk with Bandor, as vhell.  
His fleet should be prepared vor battle."  
  
Keith nodded, glad that there was someone on Pollux who knew exactly what he  
wanted. "Thank's, Sven. By the way, Space Marshal Graham's last communique  
told me that you had been promoted to Commodore, in charge of all Alliance  
forces on Pollux. His orders." He paused and grinned. "You're still my  
subordinate, though. I made it to Vice Admiral."  
  
"If ve are still on speaking terms vith ze Alliance when zhis is all over, I  
vill be sure to thank him."  
  
Keith nodded. "I respect Graham enough to believe that even if the Alliance  
betrays us, he won't. So, I suggest you think about thanking him  
regardless."  
  
"Well," Coran interrupted, checking a clock. "We have work to do- the  
Coronation ceremony is in two hours unless Nanny has pushed it back in her  
planning. We're going to have to get Keith and his friends back into their  
dress uniforms, and make other preparations for the event as well."  
  
"Of course," Romelle said. "We'll keep in touch- even if you can't come to  
OUR reception, I fully intend to come to yours, Keith."  
  
Keith flushed. "Of course." He paused. "Don't shut down the comm link-  
though go ahead and change it to a non-secure line if you wish. I want to  
be sure we can call you or you can call us in a moments notice, and as long  
as that link is up we won't have to worry about electromagnetic interferent  
surprising us."  
  
"Vill do," Sven acknowledged. "Good luck tonight." With that, they were  
transferred to a blank 'link-ready' screen with the Polluxian Royal Symbol  
on it.  
  
Lance snickered. "Well, let's get through this last ceremony," he said,  
trying to keep from laughing. "And then we can all wish you and the  
Princess good luck tonight, Chief. You're going to need it."  
  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	4. Chapter 4

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt4.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:14 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 4  
  
Haggar entered the throne room of her two masters. Zarkon, the King of Doom  
(and a general nuissance, in her mind) was yelling at his son Lotor. Lotor  
was was a good soldier, but not really the great general his reputation had  
claimed he would be, from what she'd seen- he lacked the tactical creativity  
necessary to fight a war.  
  
The topic of their argument appeared to have been forgotten, as Zarkon was  
merely shouting insults in his son's direction. She didn't really care- she  
figured her news would be of more interest to the both of them than anything  
they might be talking about. She cackled slightly, drawing the two fueding  
people's attention.  
  
"What is it now, old witch?" Lotor snapped. "You're interrupting a private  
discussion between my father and myself."  
  
"Hmm, yes," Haggar smirked. "Well, I figure you might be interested in this  
latest transmission we're recieving from Arus. It may prove... useful. But  
if you think your 'discussion' is more important, well-"  
  
"Quit babbling and show us!" Lotor cried.  
  
"Very well. But you may not be happy with this news, I warn you!" Haggar  
crowed.  
  
She waved her hands in the air, and an etherial picture of a news broadcast  
appeared. The picture was almost illegibly distorted, but the sound was  
understandible. "...coronation of our beloved monarch Queen Allura. She  
was married in a hastily arranged ceremony earlier today to Vice Admiral  
Keith Lockhart of the Voltron Force, allowing this ceremony to take place."  
  
"WHAT!" Lotor exclaimed, infuriated.  
  
"Shut up, Lotor," Zarkon ordered. "Let me hear this."  
  
"...unsure, at this time, if Vice Admiral Lockhart will be crowned King as  
well- that option is up to Her Highness upon her coronation."  
  
"Is your power weakening, Haggar? Your images are so poor I'm surprised we'  
re able to hear what's going on," Zarkon complained.  
  
"It is not my images, but their transmission, your majesty," Haggar said  
with uncharacteristic chagrin. "Some force is disrupting communication  
throughout the whole Far Universe... I fear it is another magic user. If it  
is, they are almost as powerful as I am...."  
  
"And here comes our Queen-to-be, about to make a speech," the news reporter  
said. "Let's listen in."  
  
Allura's features were indistinguishible beyond a pink and blond blur, but  
the cheers of an assembled crowd could be heard as the broadcast turned its  
microphones on her. "My people! As is traditional, I will give you all one  
last speech before I become your queen." She paused, waiting for the  
renewed cheering to die down. "You may be wondering why this has all  
happened so suddenly. My marraige, my coronation, and, as we have said, an  
election as early as tomorrow to restore the Planetary Council. Well, I am  
merely officially establishing our government under our former constitution,  
in preparation for the arrival of something which may become a great burden  
for us. It is a burden we must carry, but it is a great burden  
nonetheless."  
  
Lotor smiled. "Hmm... I smell an opportunity brewing..."  
  
"Perhaps, perhaps not," Zarkon said. "Let us here what this 'burden' is,  
first."  
  
"A large fleet of Galaxy Alliance forces, escorting billions of refugees,  
will be coming to Arus in a matter of days," Allura continued. "I have been  
in contact with our ally, Planet Pollux, and together we will accept as many  
of these refugees as we can. These Alliance fleets will then join with us  
in finally ending the threat from Planet Doom."  
  
"If they truly believe they can harm Doom, they are in for a surprise,"  
Zarkon bragged. "We will anhiliate any force they can throw at us."  
  
"The Vehicle Voltron team and over thirty thousand battlecruisers from the  
Alliance will join our Voltron and Pollux's fleet in this endeavor. And  
they will all be lead by my husband, who will become your new King, Keith."  
  
Lotor gagged. "I can't believe she married that idiot."  
  
Haggar looked uncomfortable. "Your majesty, if they really will have both  
Voltrons at once, as well as thirty thousand Alliance battlecruisers, I don'  
t believe our defenses will be enough. We are in serious danger."  
  
Zarkon grimmaced. "Are you sure, old witch?"  
  
"There are many things which are causing me worry. That interference," she  
gestured to the distorted picture, noting that the Arrusian reporter was now  
speaking again, talking some nonsense about the tradition of the coronation  
ceremony. "Is perhaps just as dangerous. But it is an unknown threat, and  
we can do nothing about it. We must deal with the known one, first."  
  
Zarkon sighed. For some reason, he suddenly felt as if anything he was  
going to do would be futile. Still, he had to look as though he were doing  
something, however ineffective. "Very well, Haggar. Prepare a robeast...."  
  
* * * * *  
  
There was no reception after the coronation- it was decided that there wasn'  
t enough time to arrange a proper one after all. Allura and Nanny had  
mutually decided that it would be better to hold the wedding reception  
simultaneously, and (so as to avoid disruption from the arrival of the  
expected refugees from Earth) that reception would be held in three days.  
Romelle had already been told, and said that she and Sven would be there.  
  
"Well, Chief," Lance said, winking at Keith, "I think our duties are done  
for the day, but your's and the Princess- excuse me, Queen's- are not."  
  
Keith shot an apologetic glance at Allura, an angry glare at Lance, and then  
turned to the rest of the team. "Not quite yet- we still need to have a  
staff meeting tonight. We need to discuss how we'll handle the other  
Voltron if it shows up, and we need to do it now in case it arrives ahead of  
schedule."  
  
Lance backed down, and followed Keith and the Princess to a meeting room  
with the others. "Okay, chief- what's the plan?"  
  
"Well, Allura, despite the reassuring words in your speech, I'm not  
completely sure something won't happen when the other Voltron force gets  
here." Keith hesistated. "We can't use our blazing sword if it comes to a  
fight, guys. We need to figure out some other way of beating them."  
  
"We can't use the blazing sword?" Hunk cried. "But then what will we do to  
finish them- it's almost impossible to handle an ordinary robeast of Haggar'  
s without the sword, and they're another Voltron! Nothing else we've got  
will do it!"  
  
"That's my point," Keith said. "The blazing sword will finish them. I don'  
t want to do that."  
  
Lance hesitated. "Look, chief- I know Jeff's your friend and all, but their  
blazing sword could finish US. Their secondary weapons are even better than  
ours- without the sword, they'll kill us in a fight. Even if THEY don't use  
their sword."  
  
Keith shook his head. "Their secondary weapons are NOT better than ours.  
We just don't do as much damage."  
  
"Huh?" Hunk said, confused. "Aren't weapons supposed to be able to cause  
damage?"  
  
"Of course," Keith said. "But sometimes they're only supposed to cause  
specific kinds of damage. Without the sword, our Voltron is less lethal  
than theirs is, but it was designed that way intentionally."  
  
"Keith," Allura said. "Perhaps you could explain what you mean. Why do you  
say our Voltron was designed to be less lethal?"  
  
Keith smiled at her. "Allura, haven't you even read your father's own  
writings about Voltron?" He shook his head. "Listen, gang- I've been  
studying this all for some time, and I've discovered a few interesting  
things. Voltron, as you probably all know, wasn't designed to come apart  
initially. It was after his first full-scale battle that Alfor refitted  
Voltron to divide into the five Lion ships, when he realized it was  
difficult for one ship, no matter how powerful, to hold off hundreds on its  
own. The lions were never meant to battle robeasts- they were designed to  
battle fleets of enemy warships."  
  
"I thought Haggar was supposed to have knocked Voltron to pieces, and that's  
how the lions were formed," Pidge commented.  
  
"She probably thought she did, because it was the first time the new feature  
was exposed," Keith explained. "Apparently, when Voltron is formed, he only  
REALLY needs one person to pilot him. One person is a skeleton crew, but if  
you aren't going to split up into the lion ships, that's all that's needed.  
Voltron only had one trained pilot at the time, and he was badly injured in  
the battle with Haggar. The autopilots of each lion directed them to return  
to their main base for refueling, but to a person who didn't know that's  
what they were doing it would have looked like Voltron had been destroyed."  
  
Coran hesitated. "I should point out that the one pilot mode is only  
possible from Black Lion."  
  
Keith's eyes flashed, and with a wicked grin he said, "As the Voltron pilot  
at the time, you would know."  
  
Stunned gasps filled the room. "I, well... didn't want anyone to know,"  
Coran said. "By the time you all arrived, I was too old to continue  
piloting, and I couldn't really handle things after my injury, anyway-"  
  
"You don't need to explain, Coran," Keith said, waving him off. "But  
please, let me know if I get anything I'm about to say wrong."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Good," Keith said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now, as I was saying,  
Voltron was initially designed to be a one-piece robot. He was NOT  
exclusively designed to battle robeasts, but to protect Arus from all forms  
of danger. He could fight, yes, but he could also put out fires, irrigate  
fields, engage in emergency construction projects, take fresh drinking water  
to drought-ridden villages by freezing it, carrying it over to that village,  
and then melting it again with fire blasts.  
  
"Militarily, he also had multiple purposes. The blazing sword could handle  
any robeast out there. Voltron had so many other functions that to design  
other weapons which were useful against robeasts probably appeared  
unnecessarily redundant. Instead, the other weapons were designed for other  
purposes. Some were meant to fight against multiple weaker targets. Others  
were designed to stun rather than destroy. I read in Alfor's books on his  
plans that he included one weapon because it 'just looked dangerous,' even  
though he knew in combat it would rarely be effective."  
  
Allura chuckled. "Hey, I remember him mentioning something about that- but  
I don't remember what weapon it was!"  
  
"The spinning razor blades," Coran said uncomfortably, still not happy with  
having been exposed for his former job. "I did actually later find they  
worked well against heavily armored battlecruisers, but they weren't  
supposed to be used in actual combat when they were put in." He paused.  
"They also were good enough to give me time to properly the blazing sword.  
I had to adapt my robeast-fighting tactics when some of them were too fast  
for me to use the sword alone."  
  
"Well," Keith said. "That's totally unlike the other Voltron. The other  
Voltron, while it did have some non-combatitive functions, practically could  
not be used in robot-form except to fight robeasts. Three minutes is not  
long enough to put out forest fires or dig trenches for irrigation or  
anything like that. So, instead, the creators tried to make sure EVERY  
weapon could damage something as powerful as a robeast. That is why I say  
the weapons on the other Voltron are not better, just more lethal."  
  
Lance nodded. "Okay, I can see that. But none of this matters- how are we  
supposed to deal with the other Voltron if we can't use the blazing sword?"  
  
"We can't destroy them," Keith said. "We all know those people- they aren't  
blatantly evil, like Zarkon or Lotor. They don't willingly commit  
attrocities, like the Drule. They're people who honestly believe they're  
doing the right thing." He sighed. "We have to find some strategy to  
immobilize them without killing them. And THAT is what this meeting is all  
about."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jeff came back and sat down next to Lisa, carrying two cups of steaming hot  
tea with him. It wasn't very good tea, but in his limited experience hot  
tea was the best thing to have after a good cry.  
  
"Jeff, what are we going to do?" Lisa asked, sipping from her cup.  
  
Jeff shook his head. "Well, we can't just not launch our ships. That was  
what I thought we could do first- just stay in the Explorer, and not go out.  
The problem with that is that SOME of our orders really do need to be  
followed. We need to clear a path for the refugee fleet, and I can  
certainly understand the rationale for establishing a temporary Galaxy  
Garrison facility." He paused. "It's just the interfering with Arussian  
independence that bothers me."  
  
"Again, what are we going to do?" Lisa repeated.  
  
"I think... we need to get some other people with us," Jeff said. "We need  
to be in position to stop our own Voltron from fighting theirs. I think you  
should handle that. I think Ginger, Chip, and... maybe Rocky would be good  
candidates from my team. I dunno who in your team, though I recommend NOT  
talking to either Crik or Shannon. Crik already knows what our orders are,  
and if he's going to do something about it he'll work it out himself. And  
Shannon... eh, he's a bit too much of a hothead to trust with something like  
this." He paused. "I don't know if you should talk to anyone from Ground  
team. Cliff, like Crik, already knows. Cinda... I think Cinda would want  
to talk about it with Crik, to be honest. I don't know if the others would  
be willing to join us...."  
  
Lisa nodded. "I can do that. What about you?"  
  
Jeff smiled tiredly. "I'm going to violate our orders and break radio  
silence. Let Keith know what's going on- give him enough of a heads up that  
he'll be able to plan to immobilize us instead of destroy us if it comes to  
a fight."  
  
"Okay." Lisa felt her spirits coming back. It felt good to have a plan-  
any plan- even if their chances of success were debatable. Standing up, she  
said, "Let's get started."  
  
Jeff nodded, then glanced up at Lisa. "Say, Lisa..."  
  
"Yeah, Jeff?"  
  
"I like your new look."  
  
Lisa looked at him in puzzlement for a moment before remembering that she'd  
gotten dressed up a little 'sexier' than normal. She'd forgotten all about  
having done that. She blushed.  
  
"Well," she said, stammering slightly. Considering the flirty smirk on Jeff  
's face, it looked like he was slowly going back to his old self. She wasn'  
t really comfortable with what she was about to say in response, but he  
deserved it. Or maybe she did. "I was willing to use any weapons in my  
arsenal to get answers from you. Thankfully, I didn't have to use this  
one," she said, gesturing to her outfit.  
  
Jeff gaped at her as she stormed out of the room. Was she implying what he  
thought she was?  
  
* * * * *  
  
The strategy session was winding down. Keith looked from person to person,  
hoping to keep the meeting going.  
  
"Does anyone have anything else to add?" he asked, hoping desperately the  
answer would be yes.  
  
No-one said anything for a moment. "Nope. Time for you and the queen to  
perform your wedding night duties, your Majesty," Lance quipped. "Go on,  
get outta here. Have fun."  
  
Keith looked downright uncomfortable at that suggestion, but Allura merely  
looked slightly embarrassed. "Let's go, Keith," she pleaded, her face  
flushing brightly. "It's time."  
  
Well, that was a request he couldn't turn down. "Um, right. Lion practice  
tomorrow is cancelled- we don't want to disrupt the elections by causing a  
disturbance with a flyby." He got up, but wasn't quite willing to leave  
just yet. Allura cleared her throat haughtily, causing the others to start  
chuckling. That spurred him to action. "Meeting adjourned."  
  
Allura stood up herself, offering him her arm. He took it, and they started  
out the door. When they got out of the door and rounded the corner,  
however, Keith started leading them. Allura was somewhat surprised- they  
had agreed to move into her stateroom together. Had he forgotten?  
  
"Keith?" she asked.  
  
"We're going to the medical facilities, first, Allura."  
  
That surprised her. "Why?"  
  
Keith smirked slightly. "We're obliged to have kids one day- to provide the  
throne with a royal heir. I don't think now is the time to attempt that,  
though, considering you still are needed as a pilot for Voltron. If you got  
pregnant, you'd have to leave that post. I don't think that's what you  
want, either."  
  
"Oh!" Allura gasped, concern written on her face. "But... what can you do  
to stop it?"  
  
Keith paused, looking at her oddly. "You don't know anything at all about  
birth control, do you?"  
  
"Birth control?"  
  
He sighed. "Great. Um... maybe we'd better talk to the doctor about that.  
I guess it's not something you're supposed to need to know, considering that  
as a member of royalty you aren't supposed to try and avoid getting  
pregnant."  
  
"Keith, when WILL we try and have kids?" Allura asked.  
  
Keith didn't say anything for a while. "When the war is over, I suppose."  
  
"And if the war is never over?"  
  
Keith laughed softly. "Why does this remind me of another conversation we  
had? One where I promised you we'd try and work our feelings out when the  
war was over?" He sighed. "As I said then, the war may never end, Allura.  
We may never have peace. But there is bound to be a time when there will be  
long enough of a break in the action that we can relax, enjoy ourselves, and  
allow our love to run to its natural conclusion." He paused. "And that  
natural conclusion will be to have a baby. Maybe a little princess. One we  
won't want to grow up. One who will steal the blue lion and terrify the  
Voltron force's commander a number of times...."  
  
Allura was starting to smile. "Could be a little boy. One who will try to  
be a slave driver, but will really be a big softy at heart. One who will  
bring hope to some young woman on a far off world simply by being there to  
help."  
  
"Whatever they become, Allura," Keith said, "They'll be ours. And I want to  
give our children a chance at peace before we make them... so let's go to  
the doctor, so we can discuss options." He paused. "Unless you don't want  
to... tonight. It might be better if we don't- if we hold off until we  
actually learn a little more about each other. Like I suggested earlier."  
  
Allura stiffened. "No way, Keith. I don't want there to be any chance of  
someone declaring this marraige invalid." She started storming off in the  
direction of the medical bay. "Come on, Keith- let's get this doctor's  
visit over with."  
  
For some odd reason, seeing the steely determination in her eyes, Keith felt  
he was in for the night of his life. He hoped he could survive it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The doors to the bridge of the Atropos swept open, allowing Space Marshal  
Graham to enter. Captain Seiroku spied him a few moments later, and jumped  
slightly when he saw him.  
  
"Sir! We weren't expecting you on the bridge... welcome, welcome!" he said,  
using sweeping hand gestures to emphasize his invitation. "What brings you  
up here?"  
  
Graham waved him off. "Mostly just the instincts of an old captain who's  
long since regretted the day he accepted promotion to desk duty. You run a  
tight ship, Mr. Seiroku."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
Graham paced up to the command station, joining the captain. "So, what's  
our position."  
  
Seiroku sighed, typing a few things into a keyboard to bring up a starmap.  
A blinking light was identified as their position. "We've had to detour  
around an ion storm- I already contacted Galaxy Garrison to warn them about  
it- and so we're still twenty-nine hours away from Arus. Estimates show  
that the Explorer will be at Arus in twenty hours."  
  
"Damn... any chance we'll be in communication range by the time the Explorer  
arrives?"  
  
Seiroku shook his head. "You'd need a much more powerful transmitter to  
make ANY sort of transmission through the interference we're detecting."  
  
Graham thought about that for a moment. "How much more powerful?"  
  
Seiroku looked startled. "Um, I... I don't know. Does it matter? We're  
not getting anything more powerful anytime soon."  
  
Graham studied the starmap. "Hmm..." He typed a few keys. "Well, that  
might work out. It's tight, but we might have enough time... Mr. Seiroku.  
Let's change course."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Planet Pollux is twenty hours away at full speed. We'll have to  
immediately establish a connection with Arus using their communication  
systems- which, if I'm not mistaken, are some of the most powerful in that  
region of space."  
  
"I don't recommend that, sir," Seiroku said, swallowing uncomfortably. "We'  
ll lose two hours if we are unable to establish communications from Pollux."  
  
"If we don't get in touch with someone on Arus before the Explorer starts  
trying to follow the counterfiet orders it was sent, it won't matter at all.  
Set course for Pollux, and hurry- we don't have time to waste!"  
  
Seiroku sighed, stepping away from the Space Marshal. "I was hoping we  
wouldn't have to do this. Men!" He snapped his fingers, and immediately  
three other bridge officers had grabbed Graham by the arms.  
  
"What is going on here!" he cried.  
  
"Sorry, Mr. Graham," Seiroku said. "I'm afraid I cannot follow your orders.  
See, I happen to be under the command of the man who issued those  
'counterfiet' orders."  
  
Graham's eyes widened. "Who are you working for? The Drule?"  
  
Seiroku sniffed disdainfully. "Please. Give me some credit- I know the  
Drule would turn on me the moment I was of no further use to them. We're  
AGAINST the Drule."  
  
Graham shook his head, not understanding. "But then why would you want to  
destroy Voltron? Why are you doing the things we hate the Drule for, like  
removing the independence of Alliance member planets? Why-"  
  
"Do you really want to know?" Seiroku said, smirking. "We aren't trying to  
DESTROY Voltron- we're just trying to see how they fare against each other.  
We're studying them in combat situations against equal opponents... so we  
can build more advanced Voltrons. Arus? We don't REALLY intend to take its  
independence, we just wanted to ignite conflict."  
  
"But-"  
  
"We intend to do everything in our power to anhiliate both the Doom and  
Drule Empires," Seiroku continued, overriding Graham's questions. "If we  
have to sacrifice Earth, Arus, and both current Voltrons to do it, well...  
so be it. But we WILL defeat them- even if it requires us to use their own  
tactics against them. And we will eradicate the Drule race from the  
universe forever."  
  
Graham stared at the man for a moment. "There is no point in destroying the  
Drule if we become them."  
  
Seiroku sighed. "It is a matter of survival, Mr. Graham, not of lofty  
impossible-to-reach ideals. Our survival versus theirs. And the people I  
work for believe that our survival is more important."  
  
"I will fight you. So will both Voltrons, once they find out what you're up  
to," Graham said. "Not all of the Drule are evil. Genocide is not the  
answer to their sins."  
  
Seiroku didn't say anything. Turning away, he walked to the viewscreen, and  
waved to his men. They started leading Graham off the bridge.  
  
"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Graham," Seiroku said once the Space Martial  
was taken away. A lone tear ran down his cheek as painful memories of a  
young red-headed woman assaulted him. "The only way for them to atone for  
their sins is for them to die."  
  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	5. Chapter 5

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt5.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:14 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 5  
  
"I'm so embarrassed," Allura blurted out as she and Keith left the medical  
bay. Both of them were blushing badly.  
  
"At which part?" Keith asked.  
  
"Well, Dr. Gorma's whole explanation of what birth control is, and how  
condoms work, was WAY too explicit," Allura winced. "I mean, really! Do I  
need to know ALL of that? Or, if I do, do I need HIM to explain it to me?"  
  
Keith shrugged. "I heard worse at school back on Earth. And, trust me, it'  
s a lot better hearing all of that from a stranger BEFORE you need to  
actually do it. Makes things, uh, less awkward." He paused as they  
continued their walk. "No, that didn't phase me. But your FATHER'S GHOST  
coming by and intervening when Dr. Gorma tried to prevent you from using any  
birth control- that was REALLY humiliating. Especially when the good doctor  
actually ARGUED with him"  
  
Allura smiled hesitantly. "What was it father said that made him give in?  
'Just give them the goddammed condoms, Dr. Gorma,' wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, that was it."  
  
Allura laughed despite her chagrin. "I've never heard father curse before.  
I think he was just as embarrassed as we were."  
  
"Yeah," Keith said, scratching the back of his head. "I've never seen him,  
well, so NOT pale. I didn't know ghosts could blush." He waited until they  
reached the privacy of Allura's room before saying anything else. "I can  
understand why you father wouldn't be comfortable in this situation. I  
wouldn't want to get involved in my daughter's birth control decisions,  
myself."  
  
Allura smiled nostalgically. "Yes, well- he's always shown up when I needed  
him the most. I guess I needed him pretty badly just about then."  
  
Keith hesitated. "You know, Allura... you're the Queen now."  
  
"Yes, Keith," she said smoothly, amusement in her eyes. "I'm the Queen now.  
That's what this whole day was about, wasn't it?"  
  
Keith frowned a little, showing a little distress at what he was about to  
say. "Have you considered what that might mean with regards to your father,  
though?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Keith took in a deep breath. He had to tell her this, even if he didn't  
want to. "Allura, Alfor might not be showing up much more. With your  
coronation today, and your government's restoration tomorrow, your father  
will probably have seen all of the problems- or at least almost all of them-  
that tie him to this world finally solved. You may not see even his ghost  
any more."  
  
Allura went stone-faced as soon as the realization hit her. She staggered  
slightly, and Keith had to guide her to sit down on the bed before she  
collapsed. Her father's death had hit her hard, but somehow she always knew  
his spirit was watching over her. His ghost's appearance time and again  
constantly reassured her as well, knowing he was there to guide her.  
  
But Keith's theory rang true. Her father might really BE gone, soon- just  
like her mother was. On top of what was already a stressful day, she almost  
couldn't stand it- she felt herself begin to pass out.  
  
Suddenly, she found herself in her husband's arms. "I'm sorry," he  
whispered, letting her cry into his shirt. "I didn't mean to upset you. I  
shouldn't have mentioned it- especially not today, of all days. I might not  
even be right- he may continue to guide us for years to come... I'm sorry."  
  
Allura sniffed and shook her head. "No, you were right- I needed to know  
that. And I'm the one who should be sorry- here we are on our wedding  
night, and I'm sitting here weeping like a baby. My father died many years  
ago. The passing of his spirit should be a joyous thing for me, as it would  
mean he's finally found peace, and is free of whatever pain keeps him here."  
  
"It's okay to grieve, Allura. He may finally find his peace, but you must  
now take on the burden that he's leaving behind."  
  
"And who said I was leaving you behind, anyway?" Alfor's voice boomed in the  
room. The young couple, startled, spun around to see the ghostly presence  
standing at their door. "Now, why are you two calling me back on your  
wedding night? I didn't just snap at my old friend, Dr. Gorma, so you two  
could cry on each other's shoulders all night!"  
  
"Daddy," Allura whispered, using a term of endearment for her father she  
hadn't used since he was alive. "Aren't you done raising me? Can't you  
cross over and be free of the pain of this world?"  
  
Alfor laughed. "What pain? I like being able to come here and look after  
you. I fully expect to see your grandkids, one of these days."  
  
"Your majesty?" Keith said, uncertain. "What does tie you to this world, if  
it isn't raising Allura into adulthood?"  
  
"Please, Keith," Alfor said, waving the young man off. "You are a king too,  
don't forget. AND you're my son-in-law. No need for you to call me 'your  
majesty' or any such formalities. Just 'Alfor' will do. I'd even accept  
'father.' I think 'Daddy' would be a bit pretentious, though."  
  
"Okay... father," Keith said uncomfortably. This was, by far, the most,  
well, 'human' conversation he'd ever experienced with the spirit. Alfor's  
casual tones and quiet jokes were almost... disturbing. "What ties you to  
this world?"  
  
Alfor paused. "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. Whatever it is ties my  
wife here, as well- though you cannot see her, she is everywhere that I am.  
I do know, however, that it is something which won't be going away any time  
soon. Somehow, I can feel that I'll still be here for some time."  
  
"I'm glad, daddy," Allura whispered, not able to meet her father's face.  
"Your guidance means a lot to me."  
  
"Now, now, my daughter," Alfor said. "I'm glad to hear that, but you don't  
need me. Especially now that you have Keith. With him as your husband, I  
finally feel as though I can relax for a while. You will still want me from  
time to time, I know, and I will come when you truly desire my presence.  
Though if I'm called in during another battle or similar emergency, I'll  
have to be my formal self, don't think I can't come by to whisper some  
encouraging words or give a little advice if you need personal help." He  
grinned at the young couple. "I can already tell you there'll be problems  
with your plans to remain celibate for a period after tonight. I won't tell  
you that you two are making a mistake, because I'm not allowed to do that,  
but I can say it will lead you both to call on me for help, every now and  
then."  
  
Keith considered that. "Would it be a mistake to remain celibate tonight,  
as well?"  
  
Alfor sighed, looking at Keith in concern. "Poor boy- you really are too  
disciplined for your own good, aren't you? I'll tell you now, if I was in  
your shoes I'd forget this whole 'let's be celibate until we really know  
each other' thing and just pretend you'd already gone through all of that  
already. And I don't know the future- not really- but I know a few things  
about certain people. And if I were you, I wouldn't give Nanny a chance to  
anul your marraige so she can arrange my daughter to some undeserving royal.  
If I'm not mistaken, she's already tried to convince Allura not to do this,  
but I can tell you that unless you, ahem, 'bed' my daughter tonight, I'll  
have to intervene to stop her from trying. And Nanny can be SO tiring to  
deal with...."  
  
Keith flushed. "I can't believe you actually WANT me to sleep with your  
daughter- most parents I know would throw a fit over this kind of thing."  
  
Alfor smirked. "I've already got my revenge, Keith. See, I was allowed to  
remain in this world in order to 'haunt' my daughter. But now that you're  
married into the family, I apparently can 'haunt' you, too. So, for the  
rest of your life, Keith, I'm going to be looking over your shoulder...."  
  
Keith groaned. "Oh, great- as if Galaxy Garrison keeping track of  
everything I do wasn't enough!"  
  
"Now, son," he said, clapping Keith on the shoulder- a move which mildly  
un-nerved the space explorer, as he couldn't feel anything from the touch.  
"As your friend, Lance, put it, it is time for you to perform your 'wedding  
night duties.' And don't worry- I will not be watching for this. Instead,  
I will be making sure no-one disturbs you this night."  
  
Allura sighed. "Goodbye, Daddy."  
  
"Good night, my daughter. Um, enjoy!"  
  
Keith and Allura both flushed again as he faded away. They looked at each  
other uncomfortably, not quite sure where to begin. Allura picked at her  
sheets, finally picking up the foil packets that Dr. Gorma had given them.  
  
"Keith, why are they labeled 'Trojans?'" she asked, genuinely curious.  
  
Keith looked at her for a minute, trying to pick from a wide number of  
possible answers to that question, then burst out laughing. "Let's not  
worry about that, okay?" he said, moving in to kiss her.  
  
As promised, Allura's father had left. Her mother, on the other hand, kept  
watching until she was sure that the condom was put on correctly. Sighing,  
she left as well- it looked as though she'd still have to wait for  
grandkids, after all.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Cinda left the lunch line, carrying her tray full of, well, vaguely edible  
products (she wouldn't quite call it food) and entered the main cafeteria.  
Most of the tables were full of her chatting colleagues. Marvin, Mordock,  
Hutch, and Cliff- the other members of Ground team Voltron- were sitting at  
one table playing some card game. She considered joining them until she saw  
Crik, Sea Team's captain, sitting alone several tables away. He did not  
look happy.  
  
"Uh, oh," she said as she sat across from him. "I've seen that look before.  
Okay, what's your sixth sense telling you this time?"  
  
Crik grimmaced. "I can't tell you."  
  
That surprised Cinda. Usually, whenever he had a premonition, he wouldn't  
hesitate to let her know what it was about. She could tell from the look on  
his face that he'd had one- so why wouldn't he let her know? "Why not?"  
  
"Orders," Crik sighed. "We can't speak to anyone about the mission, and my  
premonition has to do with them."  
  
Cinda pouted. "Aw, come on. Surely the orders can't be THAT secret- there  
must be some way for you to talk around them, huh? You really look like you  
need some support for this."  
  
Crik thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I'll try to. Basically,  
though... my premonition is telling me to obey the orders we're given.  
Which... I don't want to do."  
  
Cinda nearly choked on her drink. "What?!"  
  
"I don't trust our current set of orders," Crik said. "I don't like them.  
They are orders which direct us to do something which seems, to me, to be  
against everything I joined this crew for." He paused. "I wouldn't  
hesitate to disobey them for a moment, except... well, somehow, I know that  
we have to follow them anyway. Somehow, it will all turn out alright in the  
end, I guess. But for the first time I can remember, I'm questioning my own  
sixth sense."  
  
Cinda took a sip of her drink while she thought of an appropriate reply.  
She wasn't sure what to make of his revelation that the orders everyone had  
been wondering about were going against the principles of the Alliance.  
"Perhaps it won't matter whether you follow your orders or not," she said  
finally. "If they truly are as bad as you say they are, perhaps someone  
else is going to stop them from happening."  
  
"I don't like it," Crik said. "If someone else is meant to stop this, then  
why am I not to join them? I just don't understand."  
  
"Well, if you were to try to stop it, how would you go about it?" Cinda  
asked, taking a bite of her 'food.'  
  
Crik considered that question. "I might not launch my fighter."  
  
"And what if that is the wrong move?" Cinda asked. "What if someone else  
has a different way of stopping this, one which could be more successful in  
preventing... whatever it is you don't want to do?"  
  
"If we launch, Cinda, we WILL be committing an attrocity," Crik noted.  
"There will be no turning back from that point."  
  
Cinda frowned. "Is that your head or your sixth sense telling you that?"  
  
"My head," Crik admitted after some contemplation.  
  
She stopped eating and locked eyes with him. "Your head is telling you to  
stay in the ship and disobey orders. Your heart is telling you to follow  
those orders. Crik, which do you really think you should believe in?"  
  
Crik stared at her for a moment. Finally, he lowered his head. "My heart."  
  
Cinda smiled. "Then follow your heart, Crik. It WILL work out. You have  
to know it will." She stood up- she couldn't eat any more of the 'food'  
that had been served. "But if you're still worried, there's always one  
thing you can do."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Go work out. Play some games. Have fun. Relax," Cinda said, stretching  
sinuously. "If you want, I'll join you. But get your mind off of these  
problems that you know will solve themselves."  
  
Crik eyed her for a moment, then let a smile of his own play on his lips.  
"Hmm... I think I'll take you up on that."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lance smiled. He was going to enjoy this. In his hands, he carried a  
report which was of relatively little significance. All it said was that  
elections were underway across Arus, and that they were on-schedule to have  
the results late that night... not that the results needed to be all that  
timely. All that was needed for the government of Arus to be officially  
re-established was for the voting to be completed. The report was  
important, in one sense, as it said that things were proceeding as planned.  
However, there was nothing in it that needed immediate attention.  
  
However, it was the ideal excuse for Lance to enter the royal suite and  
awaken the newly married couple. It would be fun to embarass Keith by  
walking in on him and Allura while they were, if not engaged in intimate  
acts, at least in some form of compromising position.  
  
It would be the perfect way to get him back for that time back in the  
Academy, when the then-Cadet Squad Leader Keith burst into his room to rouse  
him for morning drills. Lance didn't need 'rousing' however, as he was  
engaged in a rather... physical... encounter with Ginger from the Vehicle  
Voltron team. Keith had never apologized, claiming that it was Lance's  
fault for not paying attention to the clock (which, he pointed out, was an  
important part of subterfuge, a necessary skill to carry on an affair in the  
Galaxy Garrison Academy). Well, Keith was supposed to be getting up right  
at that moment, so now he could return the favor.  
  
"Do NOT involve my daughter in your petty attempts at revenge," a voice came  
from the door he was about to open. Lance jumped back, startled. Alfor  
appeared in front of him, arms crossed and looking rather upset. "Your  
complaint rests with my son-in-law, not my daughter. I will not allow you  
to involve her to be caught in the crossfire of some juvenile antics dealing  
with events which happened before either of you had ever met her."  
  
Lance swallowed. He was never comfortable around Alfor- the whole concept  
of ghosts disturbed him in general- and now it seemed the damned spirit was  
reading his mind! "Um..." he hesitated. He wasn't sure if there was  
anything Alfor could do to him if he went in anyway, but who was he to  
challenge the undead King of Arus? "Uh, okay, your majesty. I'll, uh, see  
you later."  
  
King Alfor shook his head as he faded away. The poor boy never even  
realized he'd been talking to himself.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Ginger smiled as Lisa approached her. "Hi, Lisa! Haven't seen you since  
you were on your way to 'interrogate' poor old Captain Jeff. So, how'd it  
go?"  
  
Lisa grimaced- she knew Ginger was going to tease her for that outfit.  
ESPECIALLY after she found out why she'd been wearing that outfit. In this  
case, however, it might just work out. "Actually, I'd like to talk about  
that in private, okay?"  
  
Ginger squealed. "Ooh- sounds juicy! Sure, let's go to my quarters- I want  
to hear all about it!"  
  
Lisa winced, but followed the overexcited girl to her cabin. Taking a seat  
on the bunk, Ginger smiled.  
  
"Okay, girl- I want DETAILS," Ginger grilled. "What happened? I gotta  
know!"  
  
Lisa sighed. "Well, it isn't what you're thinking of, I can tell you that.  
I almost wish it was!"  
  
Ginger raised an eyebrow. "Almost?"  
  
Lisa laughed. "Okay, I DO wish it was. Hell, I wish it was almost anything  
else. See, I DID find out what our orders are."  
  
Ginger frowned. "Uh, oh. I'm sensing that this isn't going to be that  
juicy after all."  
  
"No. This is going to be something serious. Deadly serious, in fact- we're  
being ordered to eliminate Arussian independence. Earth has been abandoned,  
and Galaxy Garrison has decided that they'll move the entire population to  
Arus whether that planet wants them to or not."  
  
Ginger froze. "We're invading... ARUS?! No way- tell me you're joking!"  
  
"Sorry, can't do that." Lisa paused. "That's why I wanted to talk to you-  
Jeff and I have a plan. He wants to have people in place to stop us from  
fighting the Lion Voltron team. I've already talked to Chip, and he's in.  
What about you?"  
  
Ginger nodded. "Oh, you bet I'm in. You think I'd fight against Lance?"  
  
Lisa smirked. "I forgot about that. You two dated for a while, didn't  
you?"  
  
"We'd still BE dating if we hadn't had such radically different  
assignments," Ginger admitted. "I wish we'd had more time together when we  
were last at Arus- it would have been fun to resume it."  
  
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were interested in Cliff, now?"  
  
Ginger sighed. "Well, yes, a little. And he's interested in me, too. But  
nothing's really going on between us, yet... not like it was between me and  
Lance. Cliff just moves too slow for me, I guess." She paused. "Anything  
going on between you and Jeff, yet?"  
  
"Uh, well," Lisa stammered. Nothing was- not really- but it was just so  
difficult for her to talk about.  
  
"Something IS- isn't it?"  
  
"No!" Lisa exclaimed. Relenting slightly at the other girl's glare, she  
admitted, "Well, we cried on each other's shoulders for a bit. And I sort  
of teased him when he FINALLY noticed how I was dressed, yesterday, but only  
a little. Nothing's really going on, though."  
  
"You want something to happen, though, don't you?"  
  
"A little." Lisa blushed. "But he isn't ever going to make a decisive  
first move and I'm too shy to try. It's just not going to happen."  
  
Ginger clucked. "Once things are settled on Arus and I have my Lancey back,  
girl, I'm going to see to it that something DOES happen for you two. And in  
the most embarrasing way possible, so you might want to make that move  
before I do...."  
  
"Eep!" Lisa squeeked. "Um, please, don't...."  
  
"Too late, Lisa," Ginger cooed smiling. "I've already got some things in  
mind..."  
  
"If I make my move first, will you PROMISE me you won't?"  
  
Ginger considered the offer. "Well, I promise you I won't do the REALLY  
embarrassing ones, anyway. But I think you'll really enjoy some of the  
others, so we'll see about those."  
  
Lisa sighed, turning to leave the room. "I guess that's the best I could  
expect, huh?"  
  
"Of course. What are friends for?" Ginger grinned.  
  
"Fine... I'll do it. But give me at least a week after we're settled on  
Arus, okay?"  
  
"Just enough time to snare Lance again!" the other girl chirped in delight.  
"Perfect! One week it is. But you'd better hurry up- I've got some awfully  
cruel ideas in mind if you don't."  
  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	6. Chapter 6

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt6.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:16 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 6  
  
Keith frowned upon waking up. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he could  
tell something was wrong. The mattress he was lying on was a lot softer  
than any he could recall sleeping on before, and an unfamilar weight rested  
on his chest. He stretched out his senses, trying to determine if this  
weight was a threat or not before finally opening his eyes and surveying the  
world around him.  
  
'Oh... it wasn't a dream,' he thought, looking down at the golden-haired  
head resting on top of him. The rest of her was obscured from view by a  
blanket, but now that he was awake enough he could feel that she was  
pleasantly entangled with him still.  
  
Somehow, by a circumstance he would never have forseen, the one thing he  
truly wished for in life- something he thought he would take years before it  
could become possible, and still some time after that before it became a  
reality, had happened in less than a day.  
  
He was truly married to his beloved Princess. Well, Queen, now.  
  
Somehow, even though the situation was brought about by something he found  
absolutely horrific, he couldn't be happier that it happened. And then  
Allura had insisted that they... they...  
  
Well, despite Alfor's words of the night before, he knew he would have to  
wait a while before a repeat performance. His conscience would not allow  
him to accept these particular attentions right away when they hadn't had an  
appropriate courtship. Last night was an unavoidable necessity. An  
experience he would remember for the rest of his life, and would hope to  
have many MANY times more with her, but one which should not happen again  
until they had more time together.  
  
Time to learn about each other- in part, to discover more about their pasts,  
their quirks, and their habits, but, almost more importantly, to find out  
about the subtleties of the physical relationship they were going to share.  
Keith and Allura both knew quite a bit about who the person they married  
was- they'd had years to learn that- but they had only kissed twice before,  
well, hopping into bed together. Was Allura ticklish? Did certain things  
make her squeemish? Did she appreciate having her shoulders rubbed? How  
fast did Allura like to go, really? How did she like to kiss? To be  
kissed?  
  
Oddly enough, Keith was starting to realize that what he was saying was that  
he needed to learn appropriate levels of foreplay before he'd sleep with her  
like this again. Was he thinking things through too much again? Or was it  
too little- after all, foreplay usually lead into sex, and if he was going  
to be avoiding sex while engaging in foreplay, perhaps he would just be  
leading himself into a stage of self-torture....  
  
His thoughts drifted off as he noticed the bundle on his chest starting to  
shift. Smiling lazily, he waited for his wife to open her eyes before he  
said anything. She yawned, blinked open her eyes, and smiled up at him in  
surprise. "I was afraid this was all a dream," she whispered throatily as  
she stirred.  
  
Keith chuckled. "You and me both," he said. He glanced around the room.  
"So, how do you tell what time it is in here? I don't see a clock  
anywhere."  
  
Allura smirked slightly. "You don't. Nanny usually comes in and wakes me  
in the mornings- recently, just in time to get dressed for lion practice."  
  
Keith frowned. "We're going to have to have an alarm clock put in here. It  
wouldn't be a good idea to have her continue that practice now that we're  
married."  
  
"Probably not," Allura agreed, finally rolling off of her husband and  
sitting up, wrapping the blankets around her. She winced slightly as she  
moved.  
  
"You okay?" Keith asked, noticing.  
  
She nodded. "Just a little stiff." She gave him a sultry look. "I think I  
used muscles I never knew I had last night."  
  
"Heh," Keith said uncomfortably. As wonderful as it had been, he did not  
want to think about that at the moment. "Come on, let's get up and get  
dressed. I KNOW we must have slept in, and you can bet we'll hear about it  
from the others."  
  
Allura seemed to consider that for a moment, before smiling back down at him  
with a hungry look on her face. "How about you help me stretch those  
muscles out again, first?"  
  
Keith hesitated. There was no questioning what she was asking him to do,  
even though he would never have expected it out of her. "Um, Allura, didn't  
we agree that we'd hold off on things like this until we, well, learned a  
bit more about each other first?"  
  
She pouted. "And here I thought daddy had talked you out of that last  
night," she sighed. "Any chance I can get you to reconsider?"  
  
Keith grinned slightly. "You can try. You'll probably succeed eventually-  
we're both rather stubborn, but I think you're just a bit more than I am. I  
really DO think it would be better for us if we waited, though." He paused.  
"But don't try right now, okay? We really do need to get up. I've got to  
ask Pidge and maybe Hunk to work on a project, you have to look in on the  
elections, and then we're both going to need to have a meeting tonight to  
discuss plans for the arrival of the Explorer- we're projecting that it  
could come in as early at late tonight, perhaps only hours after the polls  
are closed."  
  
Allura hesitated. "Promise me we can at least talk it over again, later?"  
  
Keith nodded. "Sure. As long as you get an alarm clock put in here so we  
don't oversleep again," he teased.  
  
Allura grinned. "Deal!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lisa found Jeff back in the lounge, and walked over to sit down next to him.  
She was kind of nervous, as Ginger's words from their discussion of her  
relationship with this man were still ringing in the back of her head. But  
they had to talk about the status of their plan to stop the invasion of  
Arus, if nothing else, right now. And maybe she should mention Ginger's  
threat, as well. Or maybe that would just make matters worse- she just wasn  
't sure.  
  
"Any luck?" she asked, her thoughts in turmoil.  
  
Jeff shook his head. "No. I can't do much without alerting Captain Newley,  
and there's some kind of interference. We've got a powerful communications  
system, but I'm not sure it could get through even if I was using full  
power, considering how bad it is out there."  
  
"Well, I can report moderately better results," Lisa sighed. "Chip was  
definitely in- he went almost apoplectic when I first told him, and it took  
me a while to calm him down. I'm a little worried he'll give us away with  
how moody he became."  
  
"Well, he's a smart kid. He'll know better than to let someone else see him  
that upset."  
  
Lisa nodded. "I hope so. I'm still worried. What are they going to do if  
they catch us before-"  
  
"Let's not worry about that," Jeff broke in. "We just have to hope we DON'T  
get caught. Now, did you get anyone outside of Chip?"  
  
Lisa nodded. "Well, I talked to Tagor and Rocky about it, and they're both  
in. I didn't talk to anyone in Ground team, yet- I was thinking about  
approaching Marvin and Hutch, but I haven't been able to get them alone so  
far." She paused. "I did talk to Ginger, and she's in, as well."  
  
"Well, between us, Tagor, Rocky, Chip, and Ginger, we've got more than a  
third of Voltron on our side," Jeff mused. "I think that's enough to  
inspire whoever else might follow us to join us when we make our move."  
  
"How long until we hit Arus?" Lisa asked.  
  
"Not long," Jeff said. "I'm expecting a call to the bridge shortly- we'll  
be within eight hours of extreme sensor range then."  
  
Lisa sighed. "Do you think we can pull this off?"  
  
"Well, I don't want to call this mutiny," Jeff said. "But that's  
essentially what we're doing. And I doubt Hawkins or Newley will take it  
too kindly. I figure if we can control our Voltron, though, we should be  
able to avoid battle. I trust Keith to handle things on his end, and Arus'  
independence will be assured..."  
  
"But can we control Voltron?" Lisa asked plaintively.  
  
"Relax," Jeff said. "At the very least, I'm fairly certain we can shut our  
Voltron down. That should be enough to keep us from battle." He paused,  
then smiled. "Just think- by tomorrow we'll probably be sleeping in a  
castle with Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. Who'd have thought that would be  
possible?"  
  
At the mention of Lance's name, Lisa frowned. "Um, there's something else I  
wanted to talk to you about. It's not as important- at least, not on the  
galactic scale of things- but..."  
  
Jeff looked at her in concern. "What? Is something wrong that I should  
know about?"  
  
Lisa flushed slightly. "Not WRONG, exactly, just... something you should be  
warned about."  
  
"Uh, oh," Jeff said, noticing the color rushing to her cheeks. "What's  
going on? Did someone catch Ginger with a guy again, or something?" He  
chuckled. "I still remember when Keith burst in on her and Lance in his  
Academy bunk. I've never known her to be shy- and it's probably a good  
thing she isn't. Otherwise, I don't think she would have ever been able to  
live it down when she ran away from Keith's surprising arrival to her own  
quarters, all the way across campus, in the buff."  
  
Lisa smiled- she hadn't been there for the incident, but she'd heard about  
it later. It was... rather amusing, she had to admit. "Well, no, that's  
not it. But it does have something to do with Ginger."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah. Look, Jeff," Lisa sighed. "Um, Ginger has been making... certain,  
well, threats."  
  
Jeff blinked. "Threats? What kind of threats?"  
  
"It's... kind of embarrassing," Lisa blushed.  
  
"Is she blackmailing you about something?" Jeff asked, fiercely protective.  
  
Lisa smiled weakly. "Not exactly- at least, not in the way I think you're  
asking me about."  
  
A long breath of frustration exploded from Jeff. She was just dancing  
around the issue, and SHE was the one who brought it up. "Lisa," he finally  
growled. "Are you going to tell me what the problem is, or not?"  
  
"Ginger and I were talking about our love lives," she said, glancing down at  
her feet. "And she said... said..."  
  
Jeff prompted, "Ginger said?"  
  
"Ifsomethingdoesn'thappenbetweenyouandmebyoneweekafterwearriveonArus," Lisa  
said in a rush, "She'  
llmakesuresomethingdoesinthemostembarrassingwaypossible."  
  
"What did you say?" Jeff said, barely able to process words that were flying  
at him that quickly. After mentally sorting out the jumble, he said,  
"Something to happen between us in what way?"  
  
Lisa's blush almost turned her whole body purple, it was so deep. "In... in  
a romantic way."  
  
Jeff calmly nodded. "Ah. Of course. That's what I thought."  
  
Lisa was unable to look up to meet his eyes, waiting for some sort of  
reaction. That calm acceptance was not at all what she had expected, and  
was just embarrassing her more. Did he not care? That would be even worse  
than... well, she wasn't quite sure there was anything even comparable to  
the feeling of thinking that he wouldn't care at all about that.  
  
If she HAD been looking at him, however, she would have noticed his face  
getting more and more contorted as he tried to find something to say. He  
couldn't handle this- not right now. Not when he was also trying to figure  
out how to execute an appropriate method for stopping a war with the other  
Voltron. But it DID matter just as much to him, if in a much more personal  
way. And what right did Ginger have in interfering, in the first place?  
  
And... how was Lisa taking all of it, herself? "Lisa... do YOU want  
something to happen between us?" he finally asked, figuring the direct  
approach was best.  
  
She snapped her head up at that, looking at him eye to eye. She could  
finally see all of the confusion that was running through him, the fears,  
the frustrations, and even a tiny bit of anger. Oh, she KNEW she shouldn't  
have said anything to him about this- now Jeff was every bit as mixed up as  
she was. This would probably make everything between them even more  
uncomfortable and uncertain, wouldn't it? Oh, this was a HUGE mistake.  
  
But he needed an answer. Did she want things to happen between them or not?  
After all, hadn't she just admitted that she did to Ginger, starting this  
whole thing? But... what if he DIDN'T want things to happen? Wouldn't  
admitting that she did be even more embarrassing?  
  
"Lisa?" Jeff said hesitantly.  
  
Lisa sniffed slightly, suddenly realizing she was crying. She wasn't sure  
why she was crying- after all, things were just confusing. Nothing bad had  
happened yet, had it? She wasn't really sure, herself, she realized. All  
she knew was that she was crying for some reason.  
  
"Damn Ginger," Jeff cursed under his breath, not intending for Lisa to hear  
him.  
  
However, she did hear him. "Don't blame Ginger," she finally said, wiping  
the tears from her cheeks with her hand. "I... I'd told her that I wanted  
some-"  
  
"Will the Captain's of Air, Land, and Sea team please report to the bridge  
immediately?" came a loud announcement over the P.A. system, breaking into  
their conversation.  
  
"Hell," Jeff cursed. He looked at Lisa- what had she been about to say?  
  
Lisa smiled at him through her tears. "Go- don't keep them waiting. We can  
't afford to give them any reason to wonder about you before we hit Arus,  
and being late to this meeting will definitely give them suspicions."  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" Jeff asked, concern obvious in his voice.  
  
"As okay as I can be," Lisa nodded. "Go, already."  
  
He waited for a few more seconds, hoping that she would finish saying what  
she had started to say before they were interrupted, but it quickly became  
apparent she wasn't going to mention it. Sighing, he nodded and left.  
  
Lisa collapsed into the nearest chair. She knew, without a doubt, it was  
over. She'd blown it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Keith found Pidge up in Castle Control, talking to Lance. Both of his  
teammates glanced at him in surprise at his approach- Lance with a knowing  
smirk on his face.  
  
"Geez, skipper," Lance teased. "Were things so hot and heavy between you  
and the Princess- excuse me, Queen- that Alfor intervened or something? He  
sure seemed upset when I was trying to get the report on the elections to  
you this morning."  
  
"Lance," Keith growled a warning.  
  
"You know, Keith, I think this is the first time you've overslept while I've  
been here," Pidge commented.  
  
"Not you, TOO, Pidge," he groaned. "I thought at least YOU would be  
discrete about all of this."  
  
"What?" Pidge asked innocently. "What did I say?"  
  
"Never mind," Keith snapped. "I need to talk to you for a bit- I've got a  
project for you."  
  
"Sure thing, Keith," Pidge said. "Lance was just relieving me for this  
watch."  
  
Together, the two Space Explorers disappeared into the same briefing room  
where Keith and the then-Princess decided to get married. "Okay, Keith,  
what is it?" Pidge asked.  
  
"Pidge... what would it take to get that robot you built for the mice  
spaceworthy?" he asked.  
  
Pidge thought about it for a moment. "Well, let's see. I would need to  
make it completely airtight. I'd need to devise some sort of oxygen  
replenishment\recycling system. It would need thrusters capable of reaching  
escape velocity, and I'd have to modify some of the internal equipment to  
handle the g-forces from such a trip...."  
  
Keith nodded. "How long would it take you to do that, if you had Hunk's  
help and all of the equipment you might be able to find on Arus?"  
  
Pidge shrugged. "Well, my initial plans were going to make it spaceworthy  
in the first place, but Hunk said that it wasn't likely to ever need to go  
into space and so we should save the parts I was going to use for that for  
more important projects. To make the necessary modifications now, I don't  
think it would take more than two or three days."  
  
"Good. I doubt it would be able to reach that long a distance on its own,  
though- what would it take to send it to, say, Pollux?"  
  
Pidge shrugged. "A booster and an extra oxygen pack. It's really small for  
a spacecraft, so it doesn't require much fuel or anything like that. We've  
got equipment like that in stock- we'd only need an hour or so to adapt it  
for the Mouse-bot."  
  
Keith sighed. "Okay, Pidge- this is what I want you to do. Modify the  
Mouse Robot for spaceflight. Equip it with what it would need... to travel  
to Planet Doom and back, combined with its crew and a ten-pound cargo."  
  
Pidge's eyes boggled. "You're sending the Space Mice to DOOM?!" he cried,  
startled.  
  
Keith grimmaced. "I don't want to do it, but think about it. How does  
Haggar keep such good surveilance of us? She has her blue cat, of course.  
Well, the only thing we have to counter the cat is the mice."  
  
"But-"  
  
"It won't be for long. The ten-pound cargo I'm talking about is a number of  
espionage devices I intend for them to spread across the major rooms in the  
Castle of Doom- Lotor's quarters, the throne room, Haggar's lab, and places  
like that. Then I want them back here, and patrolling for the blue cat to  
hopefully nuetralize that threat."  
  
Pidge shook his head, unable to believe Keith was suggesting this. "Have  
you told the Prin- uh, Queen?"  
  
Keith flushed slightly. "Not... yet. I don't want her to know about this-  
it would just upset her, even though it has to be done."  
  
"Well," Pidge considered. "I guess I'll do it. But I won't let you send  
the mice out until you talk to both them AND the Princess about it!"  
  
"Queen," Keith corrected absently. "And, if those are your terms, I'll...  
agree," he swallowed.  
  
Pidge nodded. "Well, okay then. I'd better get started."  
  
He left Keith alone in the room to try and sort things out for himself.  
"Okay," he said to himself. "Now... how, exactly, am I going to talk Allura  
into this one?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Space Marshal Graham frowned, inspecting the room he had been locked up in.  
"Hmph," he muttered absently. "If the Academy is encouraging this kind of  
incompetency in imprisoning people, then serious reforms in our training  
techniques are badly needed." He pried open a panel by the door and started  
fussing with the wires. "Or perhaps they think that, since I'm an old man  
and way past my prime, I'm not worth a more secure facility. In which case  
these young whippersnappers need to learn not to underestimate us old vets.  
Either way, this is disgraceful."  
  
Finally completed with his circuitry modifications, he pressed a button and  
the door in front of him opened. A lone guard stood, shocked, as the  
elderly Space Marshal charged out the door and cold-cocked him with a  
massive fist.  
  
"Pfeh!" Graham snorted. "Just one guard? What are they DOING at the  
Academy, anyway?" Then he winced, shaking his hand in pain. "Ow... that  
hurts a lot more than it used to. Oh, well- time to go."  
  
Orienting himself rapidly, he dashed through corridors and down ladders that  
were little used. Actually, he was starting to wonder about how few people  
he saw while he was moving. 'Not even one security person,' he thought to  
himself suspiciously. 'Maybe they're actually TRYING to let me escape. But  
why would they? This just doesn't make any sense.'  
  
Deciding to just escape and not worry about it, figuring it would be better  
for him to be free to move than for him to just rot away in quarters,  
regardless of what they were planning.  
  
He considered his options. There was no way to retake the ship- he would  
need a crew to handle it. He was fairly sure that everyone in the crew was  
on Captain Seiroku's side, so he wouldn't be able to pick up a skeleton  
crew. Perhaps that was why security was so lax- there was nothing they felt  
he could do.  
  
Well, he'd teach them to underestimate the Galaxy Alliance's top-ranking  
officer. Perhaps they didn't realize that he was both a pilot and an  
engineer before he was promoted into desk duty. Perhaps they didn't think  
he was skilled enough in either field. But he'd take one of their fighters,  
modify it for long range, and use that to escape, heading for Pollux at full  
speed. Maybe there was still time.  
  
He reached the fighter bay, and was almost surprised to see that Captain  
Seiroku and a platoon of security officers were there waiting for him.  
  
"My dear Space Marshal Graham," he sneered. "Surely you didn't think we'd  
let you go that easily?"  
  
"Of course not. In fact, I'm glad to see you here- it means you AREN'T just  
trying to let me go," Graham shot back. "I couldn't figure out why your  
security was so lax. Remind me to never let you teach at the Academy."  
  
Seiroku laughed. "My, my," he said. "You've got quite a bit of spirit  
left, don't you? Isn't it obvious, Mr. Graham? There's no point in sending  
security all over the ship when the only thing I have to worry about is you  
taking over one of these fighters. You have no other options, after all."  
  
"You're right," Graham nodded. "I don't have any other options outside of  
these fighters. But if you think you're going to stop me from taking one of  
them, you'll be quite mistaken."  
  
"Oh? And how will you stop me?" Seiroku snorted.  
  
"Well, see," Graham said, "I took advantage of the lack of security around  
here." He pulled a wrist communicator out of his pocket. "So I made plans,  
just in case."  
  
He pressed the button, and immediately the floor of the fighter bay started  
electrocuting everyone on the floor- except for Graham, who had lined his  
standard electomagnetic boots (to simulate a gravity environment in  
non-artificial gravity ships, like the Atropos), with rubber. As they were  
all stunned to a shock, Graham rushed to one of the long-range fighters.  
Knowing he didn't have time to make any major modifications before the  
security forces and Seiroku recovered, he quickly ducked into the cockpit  
and prepped it for launch.  
  
Seiroku was the first person to reawaken. "Give it up, Space Marshal," he  
said through his communicator. "The doors are sealed shut. You won't get  
out of here."  
  
Graham ignored his warning and issued one of his own. "You'd better get  
your men out of here. I'm going to blast open your doors, and I don't think  
any of you want to be caught in the decompression that will occur."  
  
Seiroku's eyes widened- Graham had called his bluff. "Don't do that!" he  
cried. The stress of the decompression would likely cripple the Atropos for  
days. "Hold on... we will be opening the bay doors for you in five  
minutes." Gesturing to his security force to clear out, he continued. "Go  
ahead and fly away, Space Marshal- it's too late, now, anyway. Our mission  
is complete, and you aren't our real enemy, anyway. But when the Drules are  
gone, know that I will have my revenge."  
  
"You've got one minute to open these doors," Graham snapped back. "I  
suggest you do that before I lose my patience."  
  
Seiroku left the room quickly, and soon the fighter bay doors opened and  
Graham was out. He quickly set course to planet Pollux at maximum speed.  
  
The Atropos, meanwhile, changed course- since Graham was gone, there was no  
more reason to continue to Arus. It was time to head to the rendezvous- the  
fight would be on, soon.  
  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	7. Chapter 7

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt7.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:16 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 7  
  
"Nanny put the alarm clock in our room," Allura mentioned at the nightly  
briefing. "We should have no trouble with attending early-morning Lion  
practices, now."  
  
Keith's face flashed a grimmace- he didn't want her to mention something  
like that in public- but quickly resumed his usual calm. "Noted. Coran?"  
  
"The election returns are in," Coran announced. "While we haven't finished  
an official tabulation of all the votes, we have a pretty good idea for most  
of the results."  
  
"What does the make-up of the council look like?"  
  
"Many of them are people who held political office when the Assembly was  
dissolved after the fall of your father, Your Majesty," Coran noted. "About  
seventy-five percent of them, in fact. The others are mostly village  
leaders who've obtained office since then."  
  
Keith frowned. "I'm not too sure I like that majority. Weren't many of  
them the people who disarmed Arus in the first place, when Haggar did her  
'peace-goddess' bit?"  
  
Coran sighed. "Well, yes. But before that they provided an effective  
bureaucracy that administered benevolently for many years. And I doubt they  
will fall for the same trick twice."  
  
"I hope they aren't really as gullible as it sounds they were," Keith  
sighed.  
  
"Well, there is little that can be done about it now," Allura said. "We  
didn't have time to review the candidates, or nominate alternatives if we  
didn't like them. There was not much choice."  
  
Keith nodded, deferring to his wife. "Just somewhat concerned about what  
may happen if we have to leave the planet in their hands for any extended  
period of time." He gave her a significant look, trying to hint at the  
likeliness of that possibility.  
  
"They will be fine," Coran suggested. "Provided there are no major new  
interstellar conflicts ignited during your departure, they are more than  
capable of handling Arussian domestic policy."  
  
"I sincerely hope they are," Keith said. "We'll most likely need them to be  
before this war is over."  
  
"They'll be ready, Keith," Allura soothed. "We'll help them."  
  
Keith nodded. "Well, then, let's move on. Pidge, how is that secret  
project we talked about coming along?"  
  
Pidge glared at him. He knew that Keith hadn't had a chance to talk to  
Allura about the mission he was sending the Space Mice on, yet, and now he  
had to keep it from her, too. "Well, we're on schedule. How about your end  
of things?"  
  
"It'll be taken care of tonight," Keith said, grimmacing. "Probably right  
after this meeting, if all goes well."  
  
Pidge nodded. "Good."  
  
Lance picked up on the hostility between Pidge and their commander, but  
decided not to comment on it at that point- he'd ask Keith about it after  
the meeting. Changing the topic, he brought up Lion practice in the  
morning, and that initiated some more mundane discussion for the rest of the  
briefing.  
  
"Anything else?" Keith asked as the discussion drew to a close.  
  
"I'd like to talk to you in private after the meeting is closed," Lance  
suggested.  
  
Keith looked at Allura, who nodded. "Very well," he said. "Anyone else?  
No? Then meeting adjourned. Voltron force will reconvene here at 0800  
hours tomorrow morning. Allura, I'll be with you shortly. Lance?"  
  
They waited until everyone else had cleared out of the room before Lance  
approached him. "So, Keith," he said. "What is going on between you and  
Pidge? Why was he so upset at you all of a sudden?"  
  
Keith relaxed. "Oh, is that all you're worried about? Well, I just asked  
Pidge to do something for me, and he wanted me to talk to Allura about it  
first."  
  
Lance frowned. "And what is it that Pidge thinks you should talk to her  
about first?"  
  
"I wanted to launch a special surveillance mission is all," Keith said.  
  
Lance could tell that he wasn't saying everything. "Hmm... I want details.  
Who, where, and why?"  
  
"Uh, well, we need to get some surveillance of the Doomian forces going,  
because however things turn out there's going to be a battle between us and  
them in the end," he replied. "And... well, I felt that if Haggar can send  
her cat to spy on us, we can send our mice to spy on them."  
  
Lance froze. "Ah. Well, I guess I'd better stick around to look after the  
widow."  
  
"Widow?"  
  
"After your wife finds out about this plan, she's going to make herself a  
widow by killing you," Lance quipped. "She loves those mice, you know-  
maybe even more than she does you."  
  
"The mice will be fine," Keith noted. "They're just supposed to go in,  
place some electronics in key places, and get out. They can take care of  
themselves. And I won't send them in unless they agree to do it." He  
paused. "And I'm telling Allura about it tonight- since we can't send them  
until Pidge gets their mouse robot spaceworthy, there'll be plenty of time  
for her to stop me without killing me."  
  
Lance shook his head. "Sheesh- just one day after you're wedding, and you'  
re already about to send yourself into the doghouse. Well, good luck, man."  
  
Keith sighed. "Thanks. I'm going to need it." He paused. "Was there  
anything else?"  
  
Lance smirked. "Not unless you want to tell me about how your beloved royal  
was in bed last night- I figure something big was happening, since Alfor  
himself was protecting you two."  
  
Keith stood up and started heading for the door. "No, I don't think I do.  
You have the first watch tonight. See you tomorrow at 0800."  
  
Not waiting for Lance to try launching another joke his way, Keith darted  
out of the briefing room and made his way with utmost speed for the quarters  
he now shared with Allura.  
  
He practically gawked at his new wife as he entered their room. She was  
wearing some flimsy, frilly, nearly see-through piece of lingerie. It was  
so... so alluring that he couldn't believe it was her. Then again,  
considering her name, perhaps he could.  
  
"Uh," he said intelligently.  
  
"Hi, husband," Allura greeted, smiling up at him. "Is now a good time to  
try talking you into changing your mind about waiting?"  
  
Not answering her immediately, he sputtered, "Where- no, HOW did you get  
that thing?"  
  
"What, this?" she said, pulling the fabric of her teddy, stretching it  
slightly tighter than before, before letting is snap painlessly back.  
  
Keith's eyes boggled at how much that little tug emphasized her curves.  
"Uh, well, yeah, that."  
  
Allura shrugged, a motion which once again tightened the cloth against her  
body. "I asked one of the castle maids to go and get it for me when she  
went out to vote earlier today."  
  
Keith closed his eyes and groaned. He knew the moment he allowed her to  
try and convince him to abandon their plans to wait that she'd eventually  
succeed. He was hoping to be able to appease her with little things for a  
few days, at least, though... and it didn't look like that would worke any  
more. "You're going to make this hard, aren't you?"  
  
"I think that's the idea," Allura laughed. "Making it hard is an essential  
part of the process, isn't it?"  
  
He just shook his head, grinning wryly. "That's not what I meant and you  
know it." He looked at her, sighed, and continued, "And, unfortunately, I  
have to talk with you about something serious before... well, anything else  
can happen."  
  
Allura frowned. "Business-type serious or our-relationship-type serious?"  
  
"Business-type serious," Keith said. "But it could lead to a  
relationship-type serious thing."  
  
"I don't think I like the sound of this. How serious a relationship-type  
serious?"  
  
"Well, when Lance found out about this, he thought you'd be making yourself  
a widow before the night was out," Keith noted jokingly.  
  
Allura shook her head sadly. "Great. I knew things were going too good for  
it all to last."  
  
"I didn't WANT to tell you about this," Keith admitted. "I thought it would  
be kinder to you if you didn't find out until it was over and they came back  
safe and sound, but Pidge convinced me that I should tell you. Actually, he  
demanded that I do so...."  
  
Allura sniffed regally. "Well, since you haven't told me what 'it' is, yet,  
I don't know whether you were wrong or not. TELL me, already."  
  
Keith chewed his lower lip, trying to think of the best way to break it to  
his wife. "I'm intending to send a special surveillance mission to Planet  
Doom."  
  
Allura nodded. "That sounds dangerous, but I can certainly understand why.  
But why didn't you want to tell me about it? Are YOU going to be on that  
mission?"  
  
"No," Keith hesitated. "But you're close. I was thinking of sending the  
Space Mice."  
  
"You were WHAT?!" Allura cried.  
  
Just then, the alarm klaxons started sounding.  
  
"Damn," Keith said, glaring at the alarm system. They had to talk about  
this- now was not the best of times for an emergency.  
  
Allura glanced up at him. She knew he had his reasons, and that he wasn't  
heartless- he must have had some real reason for thinking the Space Mice  
would be the safest way for the surveillance mission to succeed. Trying to  
show him she wasn't mad, she gave him a quick peck on the lips. "We'll talk  
about this later. Go, I'll be right behind you as soon as I get dressed."  
  
Keith nodded, darting out the door. He arrived in Castle Control seconds  
later, seeing the others already there. "What's going on?"  
  
"The S.S. Explorer has been detected on the outskirts of the system," Coran  
said. "The Vehicle Voltron is here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jeff was in a hurry. The meeting had let out not too long ago, and now they  
were almost at Arus. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything that  
had been said in the meeting- not that he really needed to, anyway. It was  
an attempt to discuss tactics for fighting the other Voltron- something he  
was planning to stop them from doing.  
  
Now, he just HAD to find Lisa. The things they had been talking about... he  
couldn't imagine anything ever effecting him more. He needed an answer- did  
she want something to happen between them, or not?  
  
He tore around a corner and nearly collided with Ensign Sparks, the  
communications officer. "Mr. Sparks!" He snapped. "Watch where you're  
going."  
  
Sparks looked at him oddly. "Are you okay, sir?"  
  
Jeff shook his head absently. "Yes, yes- just be more careful in the  
future."  
  
Sparks shook his head. "I don't mean from our collision, sir- is something  
on your mind? You seem... not yourself."  
  
Jeff grit his teeth. Every second spent wasted with this man was another  
second he didn't have to get his answer from Lisa. "It's a personal  
matter," he said.  
  
Sparks nodded. "Can I help, sir?"  
  
Jeff sighed. There was just no getting away from this man, but maybe he  
knew something. "Do you know where Lisa is?"  
  
"I haven't seen her for a few hours, but I suspect the other girls know.  
They're down the hall, in Pilot's Lounge Green Two."  
  
Jeff nodded brusquely. The 'other girls' would have to include Ginger, and  
he didn't want to talk to Ginger right at that moment- he wasn't exactly  
happy with her right now thanks to her ultimatum. He might be VERY unhappy  
with her depending on Lisa's answer... but to get that answer he had to find  
Lisa. "Thanks, Mr. Sparks. I suggest you head to the bridge- we're almost  
at Arus, and may need your skills soon."  
  
Without waiting for any kind of acknowledgement, Jeff brushed passed the  
Ensign and nearly ran down to the corridor in hopes of tracking down the  
person he was looking for in time to get some answers before they were both  
called to action. He HAD to know, dammit, and having to search the ship to  
ask her was just getting him more agitated.  
  
The ferocity with which he burst into the lounge startled everyone in the  
room. Not caring at the seven or eight faces turned his way, he pinpointed  
the location of Ginger and Cinda and marched straight to their table.  
  
"Um, is there something you want?" Cinda asked hesitantly.  
  
Jeff didn't even look at her, instead sending an icy glare Ginger's way.  
The blond-haired girl blinked, not sure what in the world was going on.  
"Jeff?" she inquired.  
  
"Do either of you two know where Lisa is right now?" he asked, a growl  
buried deep in his throat.  
  
Ginger swallowed nervously, almost frightened by the desperate look in his  
eyes. "Um... I think she said she was going to run a few simulations with  
her fighter to help adjust to the recent computer upgrades."  
  
Jeff didn't say a word, he just spun around and practically ran out of the  
room. Cinda turned to Ginger and said, eyes wide, "What was THAT all  
about?"  
  
Ginger shook her head. "I don't know... he seemed mad at me."  
  
"Are your sure he was mad at you?" Cinda asked. "He was rather...  
fiercely... asking about Lisa, after all. Do you think she's going to be  
alright?"  
  
Ginger thought about it. "It might have something to do with me telling  
Lisa that if she and Jeff don't get together, I'm going to do something to  
make them get together."  
  
Cinda blinked at her. "Did it not occur to you that they may not appreciate  
being interfered with?"  
  
Ginger shrugged. "If I didn't say something, do you really think they'll  
ever do anything?"  
  
Cinda paused. "You have a point. But perhaps you could have been more  
subtle." Then she remembered who she was talking to. "Never mind- you don'  
t do subtle, do you?"  
  
Ginger grinned. "Nope." She paused, glancing at where Jeff had  
disappeared. "I have a feeling it worked, too."  
  
Meanwhile, Jeff was rushing to the Sea Team's fighter bay. Finally, he'd be  
able to talk to Lisa again. He'd been waiting almost eight hours for this  
conversation, and now he was finally about to have it.  
  
It was then that the worries started hitting him. What if she said she wasn  
't interested in him? What if she said she WAS? If she wasn't, well, then  
why was she always there for him when he needed her- it didn't make any  
sense. But if she really WAS, then why hadn't she done anything about it  
before?  
  
And, if she was, where did they go from there?  
  
Lisa had been trying to work on the flight sim for her fighter, but she just  
couldn't concentrate on it. At the moment, she was sitting in the  
powered-down cockpit, thinking back to her conversation with Jeff from a few  
hours beforehand. She hadn't been able to answer him, and she wasn't sure  
if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Her immediate reaction to the  
conversation had been that she'd blown any chance of having a relationship  
with him, but she wasn't sure about that. If she did, she wasn't even sure  
if THAT was a good or a bad thing. She was just... confused.  
  
"LISA!" Jeff called as he burst into the room. "Are you here?!"  
  
Lisa jumped in surprise, nearly hitting her head on the roof of the cockpit  
when she heard his voice. What was he doing here? "Jeff?"  
  
He looked over to where her voice was coming from. "Can you come out here  
for a bit? I want to talk."  
  
Lisa took in a deep breath. He wanted to talk already, and now she wasn't  
sure what to say. She considered hiding out in the cockpit until he went  
away, but then remembered that she'd already given away her position.  
"Um... I'll be right there. Hold on a second."  
  
Jeff waited impatiently as Lisa shut the computer for her fighter down and  
made her way out of the fighter. Slowly, she left the fighter and walked up  
to him without looking in his direction. She just couldn't meet his eyes.  
  
"You wanted to speak to me, Jeff?" she said softly, her voice cracking. She  
knew what he wanted to talk about- now all she wanted to do was buy some  
time to sort out her thoughts. Not that she'd been able to sort them out in  
the previous eight hours or so, but still....  
  
"You didn't finish answering my question."  
  
"Oh?" she said, almost laughing with nervousness. "What question was that?"  
  
"You know perfectly well what question I'm talking about, Lisa," Jeff said,  
his gaze boring down on her. She ducked shyly to hide her face even more.  
"Do you want something to 'happen' between us- yes or no?"  
  
She gulped. Apparently, she was being given another chance, and this time  
she couldn't afford to blow it. But how to answer? What to say? How to  
explain?  
  
"That question has been running through my head since you left," she  
admitted. "And I'm still not sure what I want to say. I know what I FEEL,  
but how to express it is another matter."  
  
Jeff frowned. "How about just saying 'yes' or 'no?' After you get that  
far, the rest will work itself out... eventually."  
  
She still didn't want to answer him, and so instead challenged him. "How  
about you? Do YOU want something to happen between us? Yes or no?"  
  
Jeff had been so tormented about her answer, he'd completely forgotten about  
his own part in this whole situation. However, when he realized just why he  
was so tormented, the answer flashed in front of him like a bolt of  
lightning. "Yes, I do. More than anything else in this universe." At Lisa  
's shocked expression, he grinned halfheartedly and continued, "Now, since  
you know how I feel, what is your answer?"  
  
The alarm klaxons started going off the second Lisa opened her mouth to  
answer, still without looking at him. She groaned- not again. Maybe it  
just wasn't possible for her to answer him about this. Maybe this was some  
divine being's way of just making things complicated for them.  
  
"All hands to battlestations," Ensign Sparks voice announced over the public  
address system. "Repeat- all hands to battlestations. This is not a  
drill."  
  
"Go- we've got to be in position before anything happens. We'll just have  
to talk about this again later," Lisa lamented.  
  
Jeff shook his head. "No. I just said that this was more important than  
anything else- I won't be able to get through this until I know... so I'm  
not moving until I have your answer."  
  
Lisa finally looked at him, and finally saw how determined he was to find  
out what she felt. And suddenly she knew how she felt, and couldn't  
remember any of the reasons she didn't know, before. "Yes, Jeff. I want  
something to happen."  
  
He grinned. "Good," he said. Before she could react, he grabbed her,  
pulled her in, and gave her a fierce kiss. She didn't have time to really  
respond before he released her, stepped back, saluted, and ran off to his  
station.  
  
Lisa just watched him go, her hand slowly reaching up to cover her tingling  
lips.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Our robeast will be there in a matter of minutes, Sire," Haggar cackled.  
  
"Is it powerful enough to destroy Voltron?" Zarkon snapped back at her. "If  
it isn't, then the situation is useless."  
  
"Oh, it's my most powerful yet, your Majesty," Haggar grovelled. "It might  
even be a match for BOTH Voltrons, if they happen to be fighting together."  
  
"It better be, witch," Zarkon growled. "Or else we're going to fall. And I  
promise you that I'll destroy you before we do." He paused. "Start  
preparing more robeasts. There'll be the other Voltron to deal with, not to  
mention the entire Alliance fleet, even if you are lucky enough to succeed."  
  
"What can I do, father?" Lotor asked.  
  
"You?" Zarkon snorted. "You're useless. Just go and play with your harem  
girls... or call that woman I tried to engage you to- Merla, I think it was.  
Even if she has turned good, she still seems to like you for some odd  
reason."  
  
Lotor grimmaced. "That woman... now that she's gone over to THEIR side, she  
can't seem to do anything outside of try and turn me as well. She just  
disgusts me, now, the way she wallows in their morals." He paused, and  
thought, 'Though I really do wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to  
turn good for her. Especially now since it seems Allura has chosen another,  
and is no longer untouched, Merla's physical form intrigues me. Perhaps the  
only way to have it would be to turn good after all...' He paused. 'Yeah,  
right. Like I COULD become good.'  
  
"King Zarkon!" Haggar's gravelly voice said, intruding on his thoughts. "My  
robeast has arrived- come, let us finally watch Voltron's demise. I will  
project it for you...."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Aboard the flagship of the Polluxian battle fleet, Prince Bandor paced back  
and forth in the front of the bridge with a posture and stride which would  
have been intimidating had he been at least a foot taller. As it was, he  
looked like a kid pretending to be a grown up, but the rest of the crew knew  
that he was not. They knew that he was acting like an adult because he was  
in a very adult position- command of a powerful military force on a mission  
of protection and liberation from one of the most powerful forces of evil  
ever known- that of Planet Doom.  
  
Even so, normally he was a rather pleasant and approachable person to be  
around. The current situation with the communications disruption throughout  
their region of space, however, was obviously disturbing him greatly. For  
this reason, no-one risked approaching him for fear of disturbing his  
concentration and putting him in a bad mood. The communications officer,  
however, found something that demanded his immediate attention, so there was  
no choice but to risk his temper and intrude on his thought-filled pacing  
after all.  
  
"Prince Bandor, sir," he said, stepping in front of the young prince.  
  
Bandor blinked up at him. "Eh? What? What is it?" he said quickly,  
startled.  
  
"Sir... we're picking up a faint transmission. We're barely able to make it  
out, but it seems to be a distress signal. It's coming on an alliance  
frequency... what should we do?"  
  
Bandor thought about it hard. This could be a trick- some attempt to lure  
his fleet away from Pollux in preparation for an attack. It could also be a  
real distress signal, however, and he had no desire to abandon someone in  
trouble. "Can you tell what kind of distress?"  
  
"Negative, sir," the communications officer said. "There's too much  
interference."  
  
Bandor frowned. "Damn," he cursed. The other people on the bridge looked  
at each other in surprise- they hadn't heard him curse since... well, before  
Avok was turned into a robeast. And even then was a rare occasion.  
  
"Orders, sir?" the flagship's captain asked hesitantly, unsure of what sort  
of response he'd get from an obviously disturbed prince.  
  
"How far away is the ship? Could a fighter reach it?" Bandor asked the  
communications officer.  
  
"Uncertain, sir, but I'm guessing it's too far away for an interceptor or  
short-range fighter."  
  
Bandor rolled his eyes. "Great. Just what I wasn't hoping for. Contact  
the fastest battlecruiser in the fleet. Have it close in on the source of  
the signal as rapidly as possible, and see if they can get more  
information."  
  
"Aye, aye, sir," the communications officer said, running for his station.  
  
"Captain, this whole radio blackout is disturbing me," Bandor noted. "I  
want you to contact engineering. See if you can co-ordinate the fastest and  
most effective way for establishing a set of communications bouys that will  
be able to penetrate all this interference."  
  
"Right away, sir!" the Captain said.  
  
Bandor resumed his pacing, but was stopped again a few moments later by the  
same communications officer. "Sir, signal from our battlecruiser. They're  
relaying the complete message from that alliance ship, and I think you  
should here it."  
  
The young prince nodded. "Pipe it through."  
  
"...tion, Planet Pollux. This is Space Marshal Jonathan K. Graham. I've  
got two emergency situations here, but you'd better handle this one  
first...."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	8. Chapter 8

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt8.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:17 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 8  
  
"Chip?" Wolo said, seeing the young man enter the fighter bay. "I thought I  
heard you were grounded for this mission."  
  
Chip didn't meet his team-mates eyes as he boarded the fighter assigned to  
him. "Jeff told me to come, anyway."  
  
Wolo shrugged. "Whatever. I don't know why we're going to battlestations  
at Arus, anyway. It doesn't look like we're needed, from what I saw of the  
scans."  
  
Rocky seemed unusually sober as he made his way into his fighter. "Yeah, it  
's not a usual mission, alright," he said over his shoulder as he passed  
Wolo.  
  
Ginger entered next, glancing around cautiously. "Is Jeff here yet?"  
  
"Nope," Wolo said, climbing into the cockpit of his own vehicle. "Haven't  
seen him."  
  
Just then, the aforementioned captain of Air Team burst into the room.  
Ginger spun around and saw him, noticing a tiny bit of lipstick in Lisa's  
shade on the corner of his mouth. She smiled- it looked like her little  
threats had sparked something after all.  
  
Jeff, however, was not amused. He glared at Ginger angrilly. "You and I,  
missy, are going to be having a LONG discussion about interfering in other  
people's relationships after all this is over."  
  
She tried to look properly admonished, but couldn't help the smile of  
amusement from showing. "Yes, sir."  
  
Jeff nodded brusquely, obviously still not happy with her. He moved into  
his own cockpit seat, and saw that the others were settled. He pressed the  
button that lowered the cockpits into their vehicles. "Right. Okay, team-  
let's get ready."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey, Keith" Lance said as he burst into Castle Control and nearly bumped  
into the other man. He glanced around for Allura. "Where's your wife?"  
  
"Right behind you," she said, coming in behind him. "What's going on?  
Robeast or the Explorer?"  
  
"We were just about to find out," Keith said. "Coran?"  
  
"It's difficult to say," the Prime Minister replied, examining the readouts.  
"The recent pattern of interference in this quatrant of space is not just  
making communication difficult, but is making it difficult for our scans to  
detect accurate information as well. Judging from what we've been able to  
detect so far, it almost looks as if it could be both... but that might just  
be a distortion of whatever is there."  
  
Keith grimmaced. "If it's a robeast, we need to be out there. If it's the  
Explorer, we need to be here where we can conduct negotiations." He paused.  
"Is our line to planet Pollux still open?"  
  
Coran typed a few keys on the keyboard. "Checking... affirmative. We DO  
still have communications with Pollux- should I contact them?"  
  
"Not right now," Keith said. "But can you tell if there's more interference  
now than there was during our earlier communications? It seems to me this  
interference is stronger than before."  
  
"Sorry, Your Majesty," Coran apologized. "I don't have readouts from then."  
  
Keith shuddered slightly. "Coran, I don't need you to call me 'your  
Majesty.' 'Keith' will do just fine unless we're in a very formal  
situation."  
  
"Queen Allura tried to convince me of that one many years before you showed  
up on our world, your Majesty. It didn't work for her, and it won't work  
for you." He paused. "Reception for our scans are clearing... we're still  
getting a double image, but I'm fairly sure at this point that it IS the  
Explorer."  
  
Keith nodded. "Right. As soon as you can, open a channel to them. We have  
to find out where they stand. And as your king, I would think I have the  
authority to ask you to refer to me as something else other than 'your  
Majesty.'  
  
"Of course, Sire."  
  
Keith just sighed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Zarkon jumped to his feet when the image from Haggar's robeast was  
displayed. "What the hell is that?!" he cried.  
  
Haggar herself looked startled. "I... I don't know."  
  
"I've seen it, before," Lotor growled. "It's the Explorer- the base ship  
for the other Voltron. Your robeast is too late, witch."  
  
"No, it isn't!" Haggar insisted. "My robeast can handle both Voltron's just  
fine... but at the moment, I believe the interference which has been  
disrupting communications all along this quadrant is masking my creation's  
presence for the moment. Perhaps we can surprise them."  
  
"Face it, Haggar, your robeasts have been useless," Zarkon snorted. "Let us  
watch the battle, but you'd better start preparing for the Alliance attack.  
And you're going to need to plan for both Voltrons, because I don't think  
this one will succeed alone."  
  
"It won't be needed," Haggar snorted, moving to leave. "Once my robeast  
destroys both Voltrons, the Alliance won't dare attack."  
  
Once she had left, Zarkon turned to his son. "So, how effective do you  
think the robeast will be?"  
  
"Against both Voltrons? It'd be lucky to last two minutes," Lotor chuckled.  
  
"Hmm... Haggar seemed pretty convinced. I'm betting on five," Zarkon  
considered.  
  
"The usual?" Lotor asked.  
  
"Hmm... considering how little time you'll have left to enjoy them when this  
fight is over, how about just all or nothing? You can have all thirty girls  
in my harem if you're closer to the robeasts destruction time. If I'm  
closer, I get all of them."  
  
"If you wish," Lotor said, nodding. "I'm looking forward to trying out your  
latest aquisition- Melinda, was it?"  
  
"Cecilia," Zarkon corrected. "She's the ultimate combination of your  
fantasies- the golden hair of those two human princesses you lust after, and  
the soft blue hide of that Merla girl I engaged you to a while back."  
  
"Her name is unimportant, as long as she doesn't try and turn me to the  
'good' side, like the others do."  
  
"Hush!" Zarkon commanded. "The battle is beginning- look."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Captain Hawkins," Ensign Sparks said. "The Castle is hailing us. Should  
we respond, or maintain radio silence?"  
  
"Open the channel," Hawkins said emotionlessly. The crew hadn't noticed it  
much, but the wieght of his orders were resting heavily on his shoulders.  
He didn't want to obey them, but as the captain he had no choice. Next to  
him, Newley stood. He wasn't willing to obey the orders either- but he did  
have a choice. He could make Hawkins carry out these distasteful orders.  
  
"Ah, Commander Hawkins. It is good to see you again," Coran's visage  
proclaimed. "We are pleased to finally welcome you to Arus, itself."  
  
"I am glad to finally see the home planet of our friends in the other  
Voltron force," Hawkins replied diplomatically, though there was a definite  
strain in his voice. "I would like to talk to Captain Keith Lockhart, if I  
may."  
  
Coran moved out of the picture and Keith moved in. "Hello, Commander  
Hawkins. Long time no see."  
  
"Captain Keith, we are under orders to seize control of planet Arus in  
preparation for the evacuation of planet Earth. I expect to have you to do  
your duty and give us your full co-operation," Hawkins said, hoping the  
other Voltron force would not contest his orders. The entire bridge crew  
save Captain Newley gawked at him, uncertain that they heard him correctly.  
  
Keith quirked an eyebrow. "Well, first, Commander Hawkins, I think you  
should know that you've got my rank and title wrong."  
  
That did not sound good to Hawkins. "Oh?"  
  
"Yes. I am no longer just a Captain. I am now Vice Admiral His Majesty  
Keith Lockhart. Planet Arus's government has been restored, and I have  
married into the royal house. And my duties as the newly crowned King of  
Arus supercedes my duty as an officer of Galazy Garrison."  
  
'Shit,' Hawkins thought. 'There's DEFINITELY going to be a battle, now!  
When was Keith promoted, anyway? Hell, when was he CROWNED?'  
  
"Furthermore," Keith continued, "We were not informed prior to your arrival  
of these intentions, even though we recieved orders as recently as yesterday  
morning."  
  
"Keith, be reasonable," Newley pleaded, speaking for the first time. "The  
refugees from Earth will need someplace to stay! Arus is a large, sparsely  
populated world- what better place for our people to go?"  
  
Keith nodded. "I'm more than willing to be reasonable. We are more than  
willing to accept a large portion of the refugees. However, Earth is  
overpopulated by itself, and Arus does not have the infrastructure to  
support NEARLY that many people. It is impractical for us to be the sole  
place for these people to go! We will accept some of the people of Earth,  
but it will be on OUR terms. We've already made contact with planet Pollux  
about handling some portion of the refugees as well, and we intend to make  
contact with other worlds as well. But we will NOT give up our independance  
in this matter."  
  
"I don't have the authority to accept that," Hawkins said regretfully. "Is  
there no way to get you to agree to Galaxy Garrison's orders?"  
  
Keith shook his head slowly. "None, Commander Hawkins."  
  
Hawkins gritted his teeth. "I was afraid you'd say that. Our orders  
stipulate that if you give us resistance, we are to use force. I'm sorry,  
Keith- I have no choice."  
  
"I know," Keith agreed. "I don't either."  
  
Closing his eyes and grabbing a railing to support himself, Hawkins gave the  
order he knew he did not want to give. "Launch the Voltron Force. Mission:  
Conquer planet Arus."  
  
Sparks just sat there, his mouth hanging open in shock. Was this really  
happening?  
  
"Ensign Sparks!" Newley snapped. "You have your orders!"  
  
"Uh... aye, aye, sir. Bridge to Voltron force- launch. Mission... conquer  
planet Arus."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I can't believe it!" Pidge exclaimed. "Our friends in the other Voltron  
force... CHIP! They're going to try and conquer Arus? How COULD they? How  
could HE?!"  
  
Keith chewed on his lip. "Coran... I know it's been a long time for you,  
but do you think you could pilot a Lion?  
  
Coran frowned. "I suppose I could... I'd be a bit rusty, but I could."  
  
Keith nodded. "Take Pidge's place- this battle should not be between  
family."  
  
"Keith, no!" Pidge cried. "I won't be taken out of Green Lion. Chip may be  
family... but Arus is my home! After Balto was destroyed, Princess- I mean,  
our Queen granted me Arussian citizenship, don't forget. I've already lost  
one home, Keith- I won't let anyone, not even Chip, take away my new one."  
  
Keith regarded him momentarily. "Are you sure you can handle it?"  
  
Pidge nodded. "Yes, I can handle it."  
  
Keith looked at Allura for support. She merely nodded, trying to say she  
respected whatever decision he came up with. "Coran, raise the platform.  
Come on team- to the lions!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
The robeast sat in the stream of exhaust from the Explorer. It was trying  
to hide its presence, and this location was the perfect spot for it.  
  
This was not a normal one of Haggar's robeasts. This one had been built  
with intelligence. Haggar had previously experimented with intelligent  
robeasts, but they all proved to be massive failures. Many would disobey  
orders. Some would retreat if there was any sign of danger. One even  
rebelled and attacked her in her own lab! At one point long after she  
realized the futility of intelligent robeasts, her lord pleaded with her to  
create one, believing the stupidity of most of her robeasts were what caused  
their destruction. She proceeded to give him an example by putting one of  
those who ran away at the first sign of danger up against Voltron. The  
result was for him to beg her to make only stupid robeasts from that point  
on.  
  
This, however, was the prototype model of a new breed of intelligent  
robeasts. In addition to intelligence, it also had a powerful self-destruct  
feature. Now, the robeast could activate this device if it wanted to- if it  
was dying and could get its hands on one of the Voltrons, the force of its  
destruction might be enough to severely damage or even completely disable  
Voltron. However, Haggar could also activate that feature... and swore that  
she would, if it failed in its mission.  
  
Motivated by fear instead of mind-controlled loyalty (a poor previous  
attempt at a solution- mind control, Haggar discovered, forced the robeast's  
intelligence to become dormant), it would do anything she demanded of it,  
and would be able to bear all of its intelligence to the problem.  
  
As it had real intelligence, the robeast was able to analyze the situation  
and make contingency plans. The arrival of the ship known as the Explorer  
was an unforseen development. However, it gave the robeast an opportunity  
to arrive in Arus space hopefully undetected. The ship was obviously making  
its way to the main port on Arus, and so the robeast knew that it would  
likely be able to hide in its trail all the way to the castle. There, it  
could jump out and attack the Black Lion, which was out in the open and  
utterly undefended unless the castle was armed. Before a single shot could  
be fired from the fortress, and before the lion ship could be manned for  
action, the robeast planned to destroy it, permanently rendering Voltron  
unformable. The other four lions would be more difficult to handle, but a  
simple strength analysis showed that it could easily match them, and that  
they had no weapons which could even dent it. Voltron himself was  
out-powered by the robeast, but the weapon known as the 'Blazing Sword' was  
lethal and virtually indefensible- another sword could block it briefly, but  
nothing could match it. It was best to not let Voltron be formed at all.  
  
In another totally unexpected move, however, the Explorer started launching  
a number of small vehicles that, while not very powerful, seemed to be well  
armed and could pose a threat. Apparently in sync with that launching,  
Black Lion roared to show its activation. Arising out of the moat  
surrounding the castle, Blue Lion quickly joined it. Damn! The plan was  
ruined. Quick, think of an emergency plan- it didn't have much time!  
  
And what were those wierd vehicles doing, anyway?  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Air Team, ready!"  
  
"Land Team, ready!"  
  
"Sea Team, ready!"  
  
The Black Lion rose in front of Jeff, and quickly following the Blue Lion  
emerged from the castle moat and settled on the first's flank. Jeff couldn'  
t help but grin- he'd been listening to the negotiations between Hawkins and  
Arus, and had heard Keith claim that he had been crowned King of Arus.  
That, of course, must have meant that his one-time roomate at the academy  
had taken the plunge and gotten married to that Princess he'd been  
protecting. If they got out of this on friendly terms, Keith was DEFINITELY  
going to deserve some teasing for that.  
  
"Okay, boys and girls," Jeff said, his mood slightly better. "This duty  
might be distasteful, but we've gotta do it. Our best bet is to strike  
early, so lets start out straight with the big guns. Get ready to form  
Voltron!"  
  
Jeff had figured that forming Voltron was the easiest way to deal with this  
mess. As individual vehicles, the people he recruited would be unable to  
stop the others from attacking. As Voltron, however, a small number of  
people could prevent the rest from acting. At least, he hoped it acted that  
way- they'd never tried this sort of thing before.  
  
"Activate interlocks. Form feet and legs. Form arms and torso. And I'll  
form the head," Jeff ordered, though not as enthusiastically as normal.  
  
The two lion ships stood their in the air, crouching defensively. Jeff  
shook his head- it was a good thing for Keith he wasn't actually intending  
to fight the other Voltron, because if he was the simplest thing for him to  
do would be to destroy the two lion ships in front of him before the other  
three had a chance to join them. They were big enough targets that he could  
easily destroy them before they could react.  
  
Before Ginger's fighter could complete assembly, the two lions leapt out.  
Jeff thought for one panicked moment that they were attacking prematurely-  
he couldn't protect them and himself at the same time- but then he realized  
they weren't going for him, but were running behind him. Ginger's plane  
connected, and Jeff spun his Voltron around to see what the lions were  
after.  
  
"Oh, hell," Jeff said, seeing a hideous robeast standing behind the  
Explorer, sword raised, and the two lions charging it down. And, in another  
fighter inside of Voltron, a certain precognistic pilot realized why his  
instincts had been telling him NOT to disobey orders.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The robeast was thankful for small favors. Apparently, the OTHER Voltron  
was in that ship it was following, and had already formed, but the one it  
had been initially sent to destroy had yet to unite into the giant robot.  
In fact, three of the lion ships which made up that Voltron had yet to  
appear... and two of them were charging it right now, bringing them into  
close range. It only had to deal with the Lions right now, and it would be  
permitted to live. Of course, if it could do something to make the Vehicle  
Voltron team easier to deal with in the future (for the robeast was fairly  
sure it would be sent back to deal with the other Voltron if it succeeded),  
that would be good.  
  
The robeast raised its sword, intent on cleaving one of the lion ships in  
half- and maybe catching one of the Explorer's engines and disabling the  
other Voltron's base ship. That would, as the terran expression went, kill  
two birds with one stone.  
  
Black Lion was the most powerful, it knew. It also suspected that if Black  
Lion were intact, Voltron could still be formed even if one of the other  
lions was damaged or destroyed. So, there was no real decision to make when  
it came to the target.  
  
The sword swung. The robeast was built to be the fastest and strongest  
ever, and with the speed at which it swung the sword there was no way Black  
Lion could avoid the blow on its own. Black was not on its own, however-  
the Blue Lion rammed its compatriot, knocking it out of the way of the  
strike. The stroke still landed, however, but it was merely a glancing blow  
to the Blue, knocking it to the ground. The angle at which the sword hit  
the lion deflected the blow from the Explorer as well.  
  
If the robeast had been able to, it would have sighed. Was nothing going to  
work right in this battle?  
  
* * * * *  
  
"ALLURA!" Keith cried, seeing his wife's lion ship tumble to the ground.  
  
"Ooh," Allura moaned dizzily. "I think I'm alright, but Blue's front left  
paw is severely damaged. I think I could form Voltron if it came down to  
it, but other than that I'm out of the action."  
  
He watched the lion limp to its feet. He knew Allura was more or less okay,  
but her lion was not- it was hurt. And, at that moment, it was very hard to  
distinguish the woman from the ship- his wife had been hurt, and it had been  
his fault for not anticipating the robeasts actions.  
  
And it was the robeast's fault for attacking.  
  
"That's okay, Allura," Keith growled, spinning his own lion around to face  
the robeast. Without even calling out any attack names, he formed every  
weapon the Black Lion had available to it. "We won't need Blue's help to  
beat this one- I'll take it down myself, and you can count on that!"  
  
"That's a negatory, chief," Lance's voice said. "Red, Green, and Yellow  
Lions present and ready for action."  
  
"Lance," Keith started, a warning tone in his voice.  
  
"Attention, Lion Team," Jeff broke in over the communication link. "You  
look after your crippled comrade- we'll handle it from here."  
  
Vehicle Voltron leapt into view, between him and the robeast. Keith nearly  
cursed- he'd had a perfect shot lined up, and Jeff flew in and ruined it.  
  
The three straggling lion ships finally formed up on Keith as he watched the  
battle progress. It quickly became apparent Vehicle Voltron was  
overmatched- the robeast was fast enough to prevent it from forming any  
weapons or preparing any kind of defence, and the power of the blows  
directed against were were tossing the giant robot across the landscape.  
  
Keith's frustration and sense of helplessness grew- he knew his anger over  
the attack on Blue Lion was irrational, but he couldn't help it. Somehow,  
something had changed with his marraige- he had always wanted to protect  
Allura before, but now he also wanted to avenge her when she was hurt. He  
might have been willing to stand aside and let someone else administer that  
vengeance, but it was apparent that the entity which had volunteered to do  
so was unable to. Finally, his patience snapped.  
  
"Lance, Hunk, Pidge- keep Allura safe. Look out especially for her injured  
shoulder- I'm going to go help our erstwhile friends out over there."  
  
"Roger," Hunk and Pidge replied simultaneously.  
  
"Why aren't we forming Voltron, Keith?" Lance asked. He could probably see  
the stress lines in Keith's face, and likely was trying to prod him into the  
proper action. Keith didn't want to involve them, however, so came up with  
an excuse.  
  
"Voltron's too slow- we need speed and maneuverability to go along with  
firepower. I've got enough firepower with me I just might scratch it, and  
Black's speed and maneuverability are good enough to match it. I'm going  
in- we'll form Voltron only as needed. Your job it to help make sure Blue  
is still in good enough shape to do so."  
  
Lance's face stared into Keith's over the viewscreen. Finally, after a  
visible struggle, he nodded. "Roger, chief. But don't do anything stupid-  
call us if you need us."  
  
Keith understood the caution in his friend's words, but chose to ignore it.  
"Will do," he said absently, speedily moving his lion ship into the battle,  
weapons at the ready. "Keith out."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The robeast was actually pleased that something was going for it, for once.  
This new Voltron was not its equal- the original Voltron might have had  
trouble, but would have at least been able to engage SOME kind of weapon,  
even if that weapon was totally ineffective. This one, however, was not,  
and in fact had taken a number of serious blows. The robeast's blade had  
slashed a number of large gashes into this Voltron's thick hide, and had  
temporarily even been able to dislodge that oddly-shaped red chestpiece.  
That piece had quickly come back, but the mere fact that the robeast was  
able to accomplish the feat was a good sign that it stood a chance of  
winning.  
  
A sequence of explosions along its back staggared the robeast. It mentally  
cursed- it had been so caught up in fighting the assembled Voltron that it  
forgot about the lion ships. They had yet to form the other Voltron-  
perhaps the damage to the Blue Lion was more extensive then it had first  
thought, and they were no longer capable of it, but the simple fact that  
they hadn't was encouraging. Except for the fact that Black Lion was now  
able to strike against its back and keep it busy.  
  
Vehicle Voltron, given a respite from the robeasts constant assault, quickly  
formed a Blazing Sword. There was nothing in the robeast's possession which  
could counter that weapon, but it hoped that through speed and  
manueverability it could avoid the strike.  
  
The Voltron swung, and the robeast dodged back. A second and a third swing  
were similarly avoided. On the fourth swing, however, it tripped over  
something- Black Lion. Crashing to the ground, it managed to twist away  
from the dangerous weapon that Voltron was carrying, but it knew it was in  
trouble.  
  
The robeast rolled away before it was cleaved in two by the mighty robot,  
but still recieved a painful gash along its shoulder and leg. Hobbled, it  
knew it was doomed.  
  
It nearly cried. It truly hadn't believed it would survive the battle, but  
hoped that if it could do well enough that its brethren might be given the  
gift of intelligence as well. To the robeast, the lack of intelligence  
Haggar gave her creations was the cruelest thing she could do- they deserved  
the ability to think. However, it was no more successful than any of the  
others, so far, and wasn't going to live much longer. It had to do more,  
for the sake of its race, and it had to do it now.  
  
The robeast saw Black Lion slowly stand up from where it had been crouching  
to trip it, and instantly knew what it could do. Using the last of its  
strength to ignore the pain in its damaged leg, the robeast grabbed the lion  
ship before it could react, clutching it to its chest with the uninjured  
arm. Spinning around so fast it nearly tore its own wounded leg off with  
the torque, it leapt out in the direction of the base ship.  
  
It had to time it just right- it knew it couldn't make it before the  
powerful blade of the Voltron hot on its heels sliced it in two, but if it  
was very accurate then perhaps-  
  
Now. It couldn't wait any longer. It had to do it now.  
  
With that thought in mind, and a prayer to whatever god might save its  
fellow creatures asking that his sacrifice free its brothers from the curse  
of stupidity, it self-destructed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Allura watched the monitors in alarm as the robeast, moving faster than any  
other creation of Haggars she had ever seen, snatched her husband's lion  
ship up and leapt away towards the Explorer. Vehicle Voltron gave chase,  
leading with its Blazing Sword. The weapon was mere inches away from  
cutting Black Lion out of the robeasts grasp when suddenly, it detonated  
into a blinding fireball. The blast was so great that it even rocked her  
own lion, which was a considerable distance from the explosion.  
  
"KEITH!" she shrieked, horrified. The dust was slow to settle on the field.  
She hoped to see it soon- she had to know how he was. "Keith, please be  
alright," she whispered. "I don't think I can go on with this war without  
you. I won't be able to fight, to move, to act on anything... please!"  
  
Slowly, she could start to make out certain forms on the battlefield. The  
Explorer was hovering listlessly above it, and severe damage could be seen  
to the structure of the powerful warship. However, it looked essentially  
intact.  
  
Brought down to its hands and knees, blown several hundred meters from its  
former location, Vehicle Voltron rested. It was scuffed up some, but  
otherwise looked essentially undamaged.  
  
The third form, however, caused bile to rise into Allura's throat. Lying on  
its back, with portions of its hull torn away and some of the interior  
superstructure visible like the bones of a skeleton, Black Lion lay  
unmoving.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jeff shook his head, his ears still ringing. "Damn- what the hell was  
that?" he asked nobody in particular.  
  
"The robeast self-destructed," Chip explained. "Literally knocked us for a  
loop."  
  
Using the controls delicately, Jeff rolled Voltron over into a sitting  
position. He felt sickened when he saw the damage to Keith's ship, but  
checking on this health of his own crew took priority. "Is everyone  
alright?"  
  
"Lisa here- I think I'm alright. Got a busted monitor though."  
  
Jeff absently listened to everyone else reporting their status as he watched  
Blue Lion, damaged as it was, force itself to its feet and limp over to its  
larger mate. In what he thought was a very animal like gesture, Blue nudged  
Black with its nose a few times, as if checking for signs of life. Slowly,  
it rolled the other lion over, and then bowed its head to look into the  
'eyes' which doubled as a cockpit window for the crippled ship. Moving  
slowly and uncertainly, Red, Green, and Yellow Lions flow over to protect  
the two damaged lions flanks. The way those ships were acting seemed so...  
natural... that Jeff got the eerie feeling that they were as alive as the  
humans which piloted them.  
  
"Jeff, this is Hawkins," a monitor blared to life and said to him. "What's  
your status?"  
  
"Some minor damage, but operational. Everyone reports in as healthy too,  
thank god," he said, directing Voltron to stand on its feet.  
  
Hawkins eyes hardened, a reluctant look in his face. He said something  
under his breath, and Jeff could have sworn it was a curse. Finally, the  
commander nodded. "Very well. We will have to continue with the mission,  
but this... event... may give us one last chance for a nonviolent solution.  
Stand by for further orders."  
  
Jeff nodded as the screen went blank. He sincerely did NOT want to engage  
in combat with the Voltron force, but if he could avoid breaking his orders  
he would. Maybe Arus could force Hawkins to see reason- there was always  
hope.  
  
The monitor blared to life again, but this time with tracking bars to  
indicate that it was not meant for him. Instead, it was a special  
surveillance device Chip had implanted in the communications equipment for  
this event- something to intercept communications between Hawkins and Arus.  
Jeff watched deliberately as the proceedings unfolded.  
  
"Attention, Planet Arus," Hawkins imposing semblance declared. "Your  
Voltron is disabled. Ours is intact. If you surrender now, we will protect  
you from your enemies, as you badly need right now with your defenses down.  
If you do not... we will have no choice but to go forward with this battle.  
You cannot fight back, it is hopeless."  
  
Allura's face appeared in another frame on the monitor. She didn't look  
like he remembered her, cool and confident. Instead, she looked horribly  
distressed. Tear tracks were visible on her cheeks, and her eyes were wide  
and unfocused. She was obviously in a severe state of shock, but she seemed  
coherent, at least. "I... I don't know. You can't ask this now- not when  
Keith is... is...."  
  
"Your Highness, my orders give me no leeway," Hawkins interrupted. "I have  
to insist on-"  
  
"She is supposed to be referred to as 'Your Majesty," Another voice said in  
a rather hoarse tone. Keith's battered image appeared in a third frame on  
the monitor. He did not look good- he had a cut above his eye, and there  
was more blood trickling from his lip. The visor on his helmet was  
shattered, only a few fragments visible. His arm was apparently dislocated,  
and black streaks that looked like burn stains covered his clothes. His  
eyes, however, were focused and his expression was furious.  
  
"Keith!" Allura cried, her face lighting up at his appearance. "I thought  
you were dead!"  
  
"I won't let a little thing like a robeast kill me, now that I've got you,"  
he said, smiling painfully. "And I will NOT bow down to tyrany. We have  
already agreed to allow as many refugees on the planet as it can support- we  
are being more than reasonable." He could be seen adjusting a few controls  
in his lion, jumping slightly at one point as if shocked, and said, "We may  
be hurt, but we are not dead."  
  
Much to Jeff's astonishment, Black Lion twitched to life, slowly staggering  
to its feet. It was obviously lot in any sort of fighting shape, and  
probably couldn't even form Voltron if it came down to it. But the mere act  
of standing up looked incredibly defiant, considering its condition.  
  
Blue Lion quickly moved to support it, finding a way to take some of the  
weight of standing onto its own shoulders despite the damage it had  
sustained as well. The other three lions quickly tightened up their  
defensive perimeter around the couple.  
  
Hawkins closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I wish... no. I had better  
not say. I have no choice in this matter. Good bye- I am sorry."  
  
All three frames vanished, and Jeff's monitor was momentarily blank. Then  
it flashed back on, as Hawkins began transmitting to him. "Jeff, I'm afraid  
there's nothing we can do. Begin the attack."  
  
Jeff pressed a button on his console, signalling to his conspirators that  
the plan was on. "I'm sorry, Commander Hawkins, but I refuse to follow  
these orders."  
  
Hawkins almost looked proud, but then shook his head. "Jeff, I can't punish  
you with butterscotch-topped ice cream this time. You HAVE to obey."  
  
"No, I don't," Jeff said. "It's not like you can do anything- I control  
Voltron. You cannot take it over- I've already got almost half of the crew  
on my side. We will NOT fight our friends, we will NOT go against what the  
Alliance stands for, and we will NOT try to conquer this planet. That is  
not what Voltron has been built for. If you want to invade Arus, do it  
yourself!"  
  
"You do not have that authority," Hawkins said. "Voltron is not yours- it  
is Galaxy Garrison's. And, if you refuse to follow orders, then the other  
team captains will have to take over for you. Captain Crik, will you-"  
  
"My instinct was telling me to follow orders, before," Crik proclaimed.  
"But now it is saying to support Jeff in his plans. I will NOT fight  
against Arus."  
  
"Captain Cliff-"  
  
"Hey." The aussie, with a verbal swagger, didn't even let Hawkin's finish.  
"I ain't one to go against my orders, but if Crik's intuition is telling him  
something and Jeff is willing to stake his career on this, I ain't one to  
challenge them."  
  
An outside transmission broke into the whole argument. "Excuse me for  
interrupting," Koran said. "But I'm recieving something from someone who  
just arrived on Pollux which JUST might have a solution to this problem.  
Putting it through."  
  
Space Marshal Graham's face appeared on every monitor in both Voltron forces  
and the Explorer. "...this channel. Repeating. This is Space Marshal  
Graham. DISREGARD any orders recieved from Commodore Patrick Steele under  
Special Order 60321. Special Order 60321 is a FORGERY based on a real order  
issued by myself. Any actions based on conflict between Arus and Galaxy  
Garrison are to be TABLED until my arrival. I will be leaving for Arus with  
the Polluxian royal party which is planning to attend the wedding reception  
for Queen Allura and Vice Admiral Keith. Upon my arrival, we will discuss  
the genuine orders, this security breach and other classified matters too  
secret to discuss over this channel. Repeating. This is Space Marshal  
Graham...."  
  
If one had been looking, they would have seen identical expressions of  
relief on both Jeff and Hawkins' face.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	9. Chapter 9

From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
To: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net  
Subject: Volt9.txt  
Date: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:17 PM  
  
-------------------------  
Chapter 9  
  
"HAGGAR!" Zarkon roared, summoning his witch.  
  
"You called, Sire?" Haggar replied, waddling slowly out to the throne.  
  
"I thought your latest robeast could handle both Voltrons at once! Yet it  
was destroyed just like all the others. Explain yourself!" he snarled.  
  
Haggar shrugged. "I overestimated him. But not by much- he did more damage  
to the lions than any robeast ever before. Black Lion is utterly incapable  
of combat, and Blue is badly damaged as well. The base ship for the Vehicle  
Voltron has had significant damage, and won't be able to leave the  
atmosphere of Arus until after significant repairs. Even Vehicle Voltron  
has had some damage- if we'd sent a fleet or a lesser robeast along with  
this one, we WOULD have wiped them both out."  
  
Zarkon smirked. "Is that so? Well, how long would it take for you to build  
two more robeasts as powerful as that last one?"  
  
"A couple of weeks," Haggar said. "These advanced robeasts take time."  
  
Zarkon sighed, and nodded. "Very well. Begin building them. Meanwhile, I  
think I will send Lotor with a couple of our weaker robeasts on a raid... it  
couldn't hurt to attack while they are injured."  
  
Haggar hesitated. "Our weaker robeasts aren't in any condition to go out,  
themselves. After three or four days of recuperation, maybe, but many of  
them were badly injured in the last tournament."  
  
Zarkon found himself gritting his teeth. "Very well. Go. LOTOR!"  
  
The witch departed hurridly, muttering something about finding a way to read  
the thoughts of her next creation, and Lotor strolled in. "You bellowed,  
father? I've already sent my harem to join yours if that's what you're  
worried about. I knew right away you had won our bet."  
  
"This has nothing to do with that. You have three days to prepare an  
invasion of Arus. You will have two of our lesser robeasts to help, but you  
're in luck; both Voltrons are badly damaged. All I ask is that you find a  
way to destroy one of them before the main Alliance fleet arrives next  
week."  
  
Lotor snorted. "Destroy a Voltron? That's all? Why don't you ask me to  
raise the dead while I'm at it? Come on, father- make it a challenge!"  
  
"Don't mock me, boy!" Zarkon snapped. "If you are unable to do this one  
thing, we are BOTH going to die. The Alliance is serious about wiping us  
out, finally, and we cannot handle two Voltrons AND the thousands upon  
thousands of heavy battlecruisers and support craft which they will throw at  
us."  
  
"I know this, already, father," Lotor said, bored. "But if you're going to  
make ME responsible for the destruction of Voltron, I won't accept that  
duty. We've tried many times, and it's plainly obvious that robeasts alone,  
even lead by my expert abilities, are just not enough."  
  
"Didn't you hear me? The two Voltrons are crippled! They won't be able to  
fight back!"  
  
Lotor sniffed. "Yeah, but that's happened before, and they always have  
managed to recover just in the nick of time. I imagine our Drule cousins  
have had the same fate against their Voltron... we won't win. Our situation  
is hopeless!"  
  
Zarkon just stared at him. Gesturing, he sent off all of the servants in  
the room. Father and son were left alone, and the king finally had  
something to say.  
  
"Lotor, my son... what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room. You're  
right. The situation IS hopeless... we're doomed." He collapsed into his  
throne, looking old and tired. "We're too strong, now, though. If we  
surrendered, they would completely disarm us... and every race we've ever  
harmed will attack us in a desperate search for revenge. We will be  
slaughtered." He sighed, looking at his gnarled hands helplessly. "If we  
stop attacking, then they'll wonder what's going on, and will be very  
suspicious of our motives. So, if we surrender later, they'll lock us up  
and not let us go until we rot while they try and find a secret we don't  
have."  
  
Lotor frowned. "Why surrender? Why not run away?"  
  
Zarkon just looked at him. "Do you really think we could run away? Can you  
think of ANYWHERE in ANY universe which wouldn't know who we are?"  
  
Lotor bit his lip. "I... I guess not."  
  
Zarkon nodded. "Right. So, our only choice for survival is to surrender,  
and throw ourselves on their mercy. When they try to 'reform' us, we can  
pretend to go along with it... and maybe one day be brought into their  
confidence. Our race can live for up to a thousand years, my son... they  
are lucky if they live for a tenth that time. They will forget what we once  
were... and then we can come back, and destroy them from the inside."  
  
Lotor's eyes brightened. "Brilliant plan, father!"  
  
Zarkon nodded, acknowledging his sons complement but refusing to react to it  
in any other way. "But for them to accept our surrender, we have to act as  
if nothing is wrong until our defenses are exhausted. Until then, we have  
to act as we always have... and so do our troops. So, when I order you to  
destroy Voltron, I want you to TRY and succeed. I don't EXPECT you to  
succeed, just like I doubt Haggar's new race of super robeasts will be able  
to win against either Voltron. If you do, or they do, then we have  
everything to gain. But if I am right, and we cannot win, then we have lost  
nothing but raw materials that they would have taken from us, anyway."  
  
Lotor nodded slowly. "I understand." With that, he spun on his heel and  
moved towards the exit.  
  
"Where are you going?" his father asked.  
  
"Why, to prepare for an attack. We have a Voltron to try to destroy."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This was NOT how I was hoping to spend the second night of our marraige,  
you know," Keith said, laying in a bed six feet away from his wife.  
  
"Yes, well, I wasn't hoping to spend it this way, either," Allura replied,  
scratching at the bandage on her hand. Keith and Allura had BOTH been  
ordered to spend the night in the medical bay for observation, as both of  
them had nearly matching mild concussions from the battle. Allura had cut  
herself without realizing it on some broken instrumentation when she moved  
to inspect Keith's damaged lion during his temporary period of  
unconsciousness, and Keith had numerous injuries that resulted in a number  
of stitches, a cast on one arm, and some pink gel application over a few  
burn wounds.  
  
"Sven's going to make fun of us tomorrow, you know," Keith noted.  
  
"He is? What for?" Allura asked, rolling onto her side to look at him.  
  
Keith looked her straight in the eyes. "He's going to take one look at our  
injuries and say we're too rough in bed. I know him- that's just the sort  
of corny thing he'd say."  
  
"Well, the reception's the day after tomorrow, but he and Romelle are coming  
a day in advance to help out with the preparations," Allura noted. "So  
maybe he'll exhaust his supply of jokes before the ceremonial toast. But  
what would he mean, we're too rough in bed?"  
  
Keith smirked. "Think about it, Allura- what would we be doing in bed that  
requires large amounts of physical exertion?"  
  
Allura blinked, then flushed. "Oh... OH! Well, I... that is..."  
  
Keith laughed. "Don't worry about it. It's expected that a pair of  
newleyweds will get teased a little. Sometimes, even about things like  
that."  
  
Allura looked at him with a devilish expression despite the pink blush still  
painting her cheeks. "So when are you going to give me another chance to be  
rough on you, huh?"  
  
Keith blinked at her. "Um... I don't know. You were pretty close to  
breaking my resolve earlier tonight, but can we wait until I'm more or less  
healed, at least? I don't think I'll enjoy you being rough too much if I  
reinjure my arm."  
  
"I suppose," Allura pouted cutely. "Does this mean you will give me that  
chance when you recover?"  
  
"We'll talk about it then," he smirked. "But I have a feeling you won't  
have any problems talking me into it, considering how close I was to giving  
in earlier."  
  
Allura recalled that earlier discussion, and became serious for a moment.  
"Keith, about that plan we were talking about involving the Space Mice...."  
  
"I won't do it without their- and, now that you know about it, your- full  
co-operation," he declared.  
  
Allura smiled slightly. "Good. But what I was going to say was... I know  
that we need to conduct this surveillance- especially now with our Voltron  
out of commission- and I even now realize that they're probably the only  
thing we can send at this point. So... if they're willing to do it, I want  
you to send them out."  
  
"I won't put them in any more danger than I have to," Keith promised.  
  
"I know," Allura said, smiling, as she lay down flat on her back. "Good  
night, Keith."  
  
"Good night, love," he said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jeff found himself awake much earlier in the morning than he had expected.  
That largely had to do with the unfamiliar bed he had slept in- the  
habitation quarters of the Explorer were temporarily shut down thanks to  
battle damage, and many of the crew had been relocated to the Castle of  
Lions. Keith hadn't been too trustful of them, but he'd reluctantly agreed  
when Coran saw how serious the damage really was and had explained the  
Explorer's crew cabins were utterly uninhabitable.  
  
Using a map to guide him through the unfamiliar halls, Jeff made his way to  
the castle's cafeteria. Much to his surprise, it was occupied despite the  
early hour of the morning.  
  
"Hi, Jeff!" Chip waved enthusiastically. "Have some breakfast- best food I'  
ve had since signing aboard the Explorer!" Pidge, sitting across from him,  
just grunted a hello as he fussed with a complicated-looking piece of  
circuitry.  
  
Jeff blinked. "What are you two doing up so early?"  
  
"Pidge is working on something to help us gain some intel on Planet Doom,"  
Chip explained. "I'm trying to help... though some of what he's working on  
is over my head."  
  
"Guidance system," Pidge muttered, inspecting his work with a pair of  
special magnifying lenses. "Mostly just trying to figure out why this  
circuitboard isn't working properly."  
  
Chip squinted, looking at his captain closely. "Say, Jeff..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"When was the last time you looked in a mirror?" he asked, his lips quirked  
up tightly.  
  
Jeff shrugged. "I dunno. I guess not since yesterday- why? Do I have some  
dried food on my face?"  
  
"Uh, because you've got some lipstick on your face. Not since yesterday?  
Haven't you showered yet?"  
  
Jeff's eyes widened. "Lipstick?"  
  
Pidge glanced up at him, removed the magnifying glasses, and nodded. "Yeah,  
looks like lipstick to me."  
  
"Lisa's shade, isn't it?" Chip teased, trying to keep from laughing. "And  
you haven't answered my question- your shower?"  
  
Jeff grimmaced. "Uh, keep that lipstick thing to yourself, okay? Lisa and  
I haven't really talked about it yet." He paused. "And I was going to grab  
something to snack on before I showered, but now I think I'll change my  
mind." With that, he bolted out of the room to a set of teasing whistles  
and catcalls.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lisa blinked herself awake. The bed she was sleeping in was a LOT more  
comfortable than her typical hard mattress on a bunk in a sparse 8' x 8'  
cabin aboard a spaceship where the artificial gravity sometimes wasn't to  
her liking. She had been sleeping deeper than she had in ages- partially  
because she'd been so worn out from the battle that she (like much of the  
rest of the Voltron crew) had gone to bed without even bathing or changing.  
She felt safer in the castle walls than she ever had in the Explorer- in  
space, there was always the chance a meteor or something would puncture the  
hull, and she always had to stay half-awake in case some sort of emergency  
arose. On a planet's surface, however, she was much safer.  
  
That was probably why she didn't notice the intruder until they were already  
at her bedside, and that was also probably why she was so annoyed when that  
person decided to shake her awake.  
  
"Time to get up, missy," Nanny burred.  
  
Lisa blinked up at her. "I don't remember asking for a wake-up call," she  
said blearily.  
  
"It takes some time for a lady to get presentable, so I and my staff get  
every lady visitor up at this time," Nanny explained. "We used to wake the  
Princess up now, as well, but since she's gotten married she's forbidden us  
to enter her room until she calls for us. Now come on, come on. I'm  
drawing a bath for you, and that'll help you perk right up."  
  
Lisa rolled over, pulling the covers tighter around her and shutting her  
eyes closed. "I'd rather sleep in- I don't need to look presentable."  
  
"Come, now- every lady needs to look presentable," Nanny cajoled. "If you  
don't, how do you expect to catch the fancy of a male admirer!"  
  
Lisa grinned, refusing to open her eyes again. Forgetting in her sleepy  
daze how confused she was about the issue, she replied, "Already got a man.  
Don't need any more male admirers."  
  
Without missing a beat, Nanny countered, "Then you need to be sure you keep  
him! Come on, up, up!"  
  
Finally, one eye peaked open at the older woman. "There's nothing I can say  
to get you to leave me alone, is there?"  
  
"Her Highness, back shortly after I returned following our Voltron's  
restoration, once threatened to have me tarred and feathered if I didn't let  
her sleep in for just five more minutes. That didn't stop me then- what  
makes you think you can stop me, now?"  
  
Lisa shook her head in disbelief. "The girls who visit this castle must  
hate you."  
  
Nanny harrumphed. "They may, but that's my duty. And I like to think most  
of them appreciate the efforts. Now, come on- no more delays! Up!"  
  
Lisa groaned, finally opening her other eye and sitting up. "Fine, fine.  
Since I'm already awake, I might as well. But from now on, let me sleep in-  
it's a rare thing that those of us on the Explorer are allowed more than  
four hours sleep between shifts, and I want to enjoy it while I can."  
  
Nanny felt a twinge of guilt hearing that, but suppressed it. "If you tell  
me what time you want to get up in the morning, that's fine. But I won't  
neglect my duties- and my duties include getting you all clean and ready to  
impress that man of yours!"  
  
Lisa blushed slightly, sliding out from under the rest of the sheets.  
"Oops- I don't think I should have told you about that. It's still very  
early in our relationship, and I don't think we really want anyone else to  
know until we sort some things out between ourselves."  
  
Nanny guided Lisa on her way to the bathroom. "Och! I know better than to  
gossip. Come, come- let's get you clean. Phew! And the first step to that  
is to get you out of that uniform- I can still smell the stench from your  
battle yesterday!"  
  
Stripping out of the smoke-stained and worn Voltron Sea Team jumpsuit, Lisa  
nodded. "It's not just my uniform. One of my monitors caught on fire when  
that robeast exploded, and it singed my hair." She fingered the damaged  
ends lightly, sighing. "I might want a slight trim after my shower."  
  
"Shower?" Nanny said as if she hadn't heard of the word before. "We offer  
much more than a shower in this castle! Now, you take care of your morning  
toilette and I'll just send these clothes down to the laundry."  
  
Lisa gasped slightly. "Oops! I was so tired I just came straight to bed- I  
was planning to pack out my room today, but forgot about clothing! Could  
you see if Cinda or Ginger packed some clothes I could borrow?"  
  
"Mm," Nanny hummed noncommitally, inspecting the uniform. "I'll be right  
back to help you in the bath."  
  
"I don't need-"  
  
"I said I'll be right back. Now, hurry up! I'm coming back in whether you'  
re finished or not!"  
  
Lisa's eyes widened, so she rushed to finished before Nanny got back. She  
was still brushing her teeth, however, when the nursemaid returned.  
  
Nanny waited in the doorway, looking the younger woman up and down. Lisa  
felt very uncomfortable at her inspection- even though she was naked, it  
didn't feel like something perverted or anything like that. Instead, it  
felt like she was being... evaluated... as if her flaws were being searched  
out.  
  
Lisa rinsed and spat, and before she could turn a powerful vice-like grip  
attached itself to her arm and started dragging her in the direction of the  
partitioned-off bath. "Come along- I'll scrub your hair and back for you."  
  
Lisa shook her head. "But I-"  
  
"No buts, young lady," Nanny snapped. "You don't have a choice- as I said,  
this is my job. I've been doing this for countless women for the past  
fourty five years, and I've never let a woman spend the night in this castle  
without recieving some of my or my staff's special pampering."  
  
Lisa unsuccessfully tried to shrug out of the older woman's grip. "I've  
never had someone else with me when I've bathed, before."  
  
Nanny grinned fiercely. "Then you're in for a treat- as I said, I've never  
let a woman spend the night in the castle without my attention. But almost  
all of those women were of noble families. This treatment is usually  
reserved for a princess."  
  
Lisa grimmaced. "I'll remember that," she noted doubtfully.  
  
Nanny guided her to a stool and made her sit down. "Come, now- it won't be  
so bad. Most people enjoy this." The shower was turned on, and to Lisa's  
surprise it was ice cold.  
  
"YIEEEI!" she shrieked, jumping back. "That's FREEZING!"  
  
The nursemaid steadied the girl with an arm to the shoulder and shook her  
head in disbelief. "For such valiant warriors, you space explorers are real  
wimps. Just sit right back down and let it rinse you off. This won't take  
long."  
  
Lisa settled back into the bracing stream of water and closed her eyes  
tightly, hoping she could endure the torture with a minimum of fuss. After  
a few seconds, she found that, while the water almost gave her a chill, it  
was very refreshing as well. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it  
stopped.  
  
"I'll give you that trim, now... then we'll shampoo your hair, okay?" Nanny  
said. Not waiting for an answer, she started the scissors going. Lisa  
trembled slightly from the cold, and the nursemaid noticed. "So... tell me  
about this man you've found that you don't think you need to be presentable  
for."  
  
"Do I have to?" Lisa whined. Then she winced, realizing how much like  
Ginger she just sounded.  
  
"Nooo...." Nanny drew out the word with a sing-song tone. "But you might  
find yourself enjoying this more if you do."  
  
Lisa pressed her lips together until they were just a thin line. "I suppose  
you'll just keep bugging me about him until I do, won't you?"  
  
"Mmm," Nanny hummed noncommitally.  
  
"I thought so," the younger woman sighed. "His name is Jeff."  
  
"Jeff? Isn't that the name of that young captain who organized your ship's  
resistance to the supposed invasion orders?"  
  
"The same man," Lisa said, struggling not to nod and ruin the haircut. "We  
actually organized the thing together... and we started sorting out our  
relationship at the same time, which made everything complicated. It felt  
like the whole universe was collapsing around me at once."  
  
Nanny clucked, inspecting Lisa's bangs. "Poor girl. But you made it  
through it, and you say you no longer have to worry about looking  
presentable, so surely it turned out all right!"  
  
Lisa smiled slightly nostalgically. "Well, it's a long story. It was a  
case of everyone else seeing that we like each other, but us being too  
scared to say anything about it. Then a friend of mine said that if I didn'  
t do something about him, she'd find a way to embarrass us into doing  
something. That kind of spurred us into talking about it, and... well, the  
only thing that we've resolved is that we want it to happen... just what,  
and how we'll do it, we haven't talked about yet. But we want it to  
happen."  
  
"That's wonderful!" Nanny cooed, running a comb through her hair and  
checking the length.  
  
"We decided it just seconds before the battle. He asked me if I wanted  
something to happen, and then the alarm went off before I could answer. It  
was the second time he'd asked me, and the second time the same thing  
happened, but he refused to go to his battlestation until he got my answer.  
When I told him yes, he..." she blushed.  
  
"It must have been a good kiss," the nursemaid teased, winking at her.  
  
Nanny could see the blush extend its way down to the girl's belly button.  
"Well, yes, it was."  
  
Deciding the poor girl had enough embarrassment already, Nanny changed topic  
slightly. "So... what's this Jeff person like, anyway?"  
  
"Hmm... as an officer, he's one of the best. He and Keith were pretty  
closely ranked at the Academy- I recall one rumor saying Keith wound up  
being number one over him by a mere coin toss. The best of marksmen, the  
best of pilots, and pretty darn good at the hand-to-hand thing, too. They  
even SOUND somewhat alike, which really scared some people down at the  
Academy who knew the both of them. Jeff has a bit of a slur, though, that  
comes from a minor injury he suffered to his mouth during a training  
accident, but before that happened you wouldn't be able to tell them apart  
from their voices."  
  
Nanny paused, inspecting Lisa's hair again with the comb. "I suppose they  
pulled a lot of pranks thanks to that."  
  
"Only on Lance," Lisa said. "And only in retaliation for pranks played on  
them. But beyond their academic skills and their voices, there's not much  
similar between them. Their weaknesses are the exact opposite of each  
other- Jeff is a bit impulsive whereas Keith is a little over-cautious.  
Keith is authoritative and likes being in charge of everything, while Jeff  
is more subordinate and democratic in his leadership style. Jeff is also a  
bit more expressive- I've never heard of Keith shedding a tear before- not  
even at the death of a family member- but I've had to hold Jeff as he cried  
once or twice. There's more, but you're probably bored to tears by now."  
  
"Nonsense," Nanny admonished, rubbing shampoo into the newly-cut hair. "I'm  
enjoying this. And I imagine you're enjoying the chance to brag about your  
man."  
  
"Kinda," Lisa admitted. "But I wouldn't exactly call it 'bragging.'"  
  
"Close your eyes- I need to rinse, now," Nanny said. The cold shower  
started again, and soon the suds in Lisa's hair were running down the drain.  
The flow of water was quickly stopped, however, when the suds were fully  
cleansed from the hair. "Okay, time for me to scrub your back."  
  
Lisa flinched slightly at the gentle touch of the washcloth. "Uh, before  
you go much further, I should note that I'm mildly allergic to aloe. I hope  
the soap you're using isn't aloe-based."  
  
"No, just normal soap and water." There was a pause in conversation as  
Nanny lathered up Lisa's back. "Sounds like you and Jeff were getting along  
fine even before you started sorting out your relationship."  
  
"Eh?" Lisa said, straightening her back in surprise.  
  
"You said you've had to hug him as he cried 'once or twice,'" Nanny  
explained, setting down the rag she'd been using to lather the younger woman  
up and searching through her supplies for something. "Sounds to me you've  
had a relationship for some time, you only just admitted it recently. Oh,  
lie down on your chest- I'm going to do a harder scrub."  
  
Lisa shook her head. "It wasn't like that, then. It was just... he needed  
a shoulder to cry on, and I was there." She paused, then chuckled a little,  
moving as Nanny had directed. "Or maybe you're right- like I said, everyone  
else saw how we felt before we did."  
  
"Ah! Here it is," Nanny said, pulling out a whitish-grey block of  
something. "Some people say this hurts, others really enjoy it. However it  
feels, though, your skin will never feel quite so soft and smooth  
afterwards, I promise you."  
  
"What?" Lisa asked, seconds before the nursemaid started scraping some kind  
of gritty stone running up and down her skin. "Ouch! That... that's not  
actually that bad. It feels like someone scratching my back with their  
nails... what is this?"  
  
"It's pumice, more or less," Nanny informed. "It's manufactured for  
distribution the same way a pumice block is, but the material is slightly  
different, and some say it has mildly magical powers. One of the few beauty  
products in the universe still unique to Arus."  
  
"I like it now, but I fear it would hurt if you kept at it for long," Lisa  
grunted slightly. "How much longer will this take?"  
  
"Done," Nanny said with one last flourished swipe. "Like I said, some think  
this is mildly magical. The reason is that it takes almost no time to  
finish with it."  
  
Lisa smiled, feeling her back with one hand. "I may ask if I can have some  
of that to take with me when we leave here. It's absolutely amazing."  
  
"I'll pack some for you. But note that you need to soap your skin before  
using it, or else you risk it scratching your skin." With a mere hand  
gesture this time, Nanny directed the young woman to sit down at the bench  
again. "I need to rinse one last time, then you can go soak for a while."  
  
"Thank you," Lisa said. "You were right- I have enjoyed this."  
  
Nanny winked. "I told you. Besides, every girl likes to get pampered now  
and then- even hard-bitten space explorers." She released the cold spray  
again, and Lisa was quickly cleaned of suds once more. "Now, go and enjoy  
the soak. Don't stay too long, though, or you'll get overheated." She  
walked out of the room as Lisa made her way into the steaming bathtub. She  
returned a moment later carrying a pair of towels and a robe. "Here you  
are- I'll make sure your clothes are waiting for you outside in the changing  
room. Breakfast is in an hour- the cafeteria is down the hall as far as you  
can go on the right, take a left, and any one of the next three doors will  
get you in. Don't be late."  
  
Lisa waved and smiled. "Thanks again."  
  
About ten minutes later, she got out of the tub before she started sweating  
too much and ruined all of the cleaning work they'd done. Wrapping her hair  
in one towel and drying off with the other, she shook her head with chagrin.  
Nanny was right- she did like having been pampered. She had been given the  
'royal treatment,' it seemed. As she wrapped the robe around her, she  
wondered if Cinda and Ginger had experienced the same or similar service.  
  
She walked into the changing room, and looked around for her uniform. It  
wasn't there, but another pile of neatly-folded clothing was lying nearby, a  
note attached to the top. Frowning, she grabbed the note and started  
reading.  
  
"Lisa," It said.  
  
"I know you asked for your uniform, but you have to remember you're off  
duty. And, when you're off duty is the perfect time to treat yourself like  
a lady- something I tried to show you today.  
  
"I also remember you saying you didn't need to be presentable for your man,  
but I think he'd appreciate the effort. So, here's a little something to  
help you look and feel like a lady, while still hopefully drawing just a bit  
more of his attention than normal. I think you'll both like what I had  
picked out for you. (I got the measurements from your uniform, so don't  
worry- it will fit).  
  
"Have fun with Jeff! (But not too much- it's not proper for a lady to do  
certain things until she's married, after all!)  
  
"-Nanny!"  
  
When Lisa saw exactly what it was Nanny had picked out, a tear of  
thankfulness came to her eyes. "Oh, Nanny... you're SUCH a dear. Allura, I  
'm jealous that you have her with you." She held the set of clothing up to  
the mirror and smiled. "Jeff, you aren't going to know what hit you."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
desaix@sysnet.net  
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee  
anime fanfics available at  
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Here's Chapter 10 (completely unedited, including simple  
  
spellcheck. Sorry about that). Feedback will be appreciated.  
  
Just a note, I realize I haven't updated ANY of my fics in a long time. Essentially, way back in June of 2002, I took what was supposed to be a summer hiatus to work on some original fiction. I started this chapter back in September of 2002, but on September 30, my father passed away unexpectedly. Since then, I've been working hard to help my family take care of his estate (my job mostly consisted the managing and reduction of a scholarly book collection of some 15,000 volumes down to a collection of about 5,000), moving to a new house, attempting to finish college (damned college transfer credit doesn't recognize "History of the Ancient World" as the same course as "Ancient World History." Go figure... so now, I'm just 3 credits shy. I tried to take the course this summer, but it wasn't available until Fall, so...) and trying to get a new (steady) job (now working freelance doing graphic design and desktop publishing... well, TRYING to find freelance work doing gd and dp. I've had two customers, one who I did as a volunteer job and another who hasn't said for sure if he'll take my work or not). Job market sucks, though... *sigh*  
  
Anyway, new e-mail address since last fic I posted. Now on cablemodem, as my old dial-up service was unavailable in my new area. Contact me at desaix@anifics.com  
  
My main webpage has yet to be updated. Essentially, it's a problem with my firewall not agreeing with my FTP software, even though it's supposed to. Can't disable the firewall, it's hardwired into the hardware! (at first, it wasn't even allowing me e-mail! So, this is an improvement). When I get this fixed, I'll add a (revised and spellchecked) version of this chapter and fix my e-mail there. (And I'm hoping ff.net's uploading software won't conflict with the firewall, either, but we'll see.)  
  
Disclaimer found in Chapter 1.  
  
Enjoy.  
  
-------------------------  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"Hey, Jeff!" Lance called, rounding the corner to see the air team  
  
captain leaning against a wall, looking annoyed. "How are things?"  
  
Jeff smiled half-heartedly. "About as well as can be expected,  
  
considering everything that's happened in the past few days."  
  
Lance laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've just been through a  
  
whirlwind royal wedding! And a few days ago, I still thought I had a  
  
shot at the Princess myself." He paused. "Speaking of that, have you  
  
seen Ginger anywhere?"  
  
Jeff rolled his eyes. "No, I haven't. I'll tell her you're looking for  
  
her, though... once I'm done giving her a lecture about interfering in  
  
my personal affairs."  
  
Lance gave him a sly grin. "Oh? And just what, prey tell, did she do  
  
to you? Does it happen to have something to do with that lipstick stain  
  
that was on your uniform last night? And who's lipstick was it, anyway-  
  
there aren't very many girls on your ship. I'm pretty sure it wasn't  
  
Ginger's... and it DEFINITELY wasn't Cinda's."  
  
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Does everyone know about that, already?  
  
Sheesh...."  
  
"Just those of us who saw you when you came in, last night," Lance  
  
answered. "And anyone who might have gossipped about it... oh, yeah,  
  
and then there was the security camera footage... and you never know if  
  
King Alfor is there to see what's going on, him being a ghost and all...  
  
and possibly-"  
  
"Enough, already!" Jeff growled, clenching his fists. "A word of  
  
warning, Lance- I'm not really as forgiving as Keith is, remember. If  
  
the teasing gets out of hand, I WILL strike back... and given everything  
  
that happened between you and Ginger in our Academy days, I've got  
  
plenty of ammunition to back up that threat."  
  
Lance grinned. "Hey, we weren't shy about it. It was kinda hard to be,  
  
after Keith caught us that one time and Ginger had to streak the whole  
  
compound."  
  
"As embarrassing as that was, it WAS worth it," Ginger's voice said from  
  
behind Lance. She playfully slapped him on the butt as she passed,  
  
watching him blush out of the corner of her eye. She spun around to  
  
face him. "Long time no see, stranger. So, what does one do for  
  
breakfast around here?"  
  
"Uh, um... well, heh," Lance said incomprehensibly.  
  
Ginger sighed theatrically. "Lancey, Lancey, Lancey... I'd think you  
  
could string two words together around me by now. Why don't you just  
  
show me, huh?" she said, fluttering her lashes at him.  
  
Jeff wondered if Lance would start drooling when the girl slipped her  
  
hand into the crook of the lion pilot's arm, and rolled his eyes. Well,  
  
he wouldn't ruin Lance's reunion right now, but Ginger was DEFINITELY  
  
getting a talking to next chance he got.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Chip and Pidge both bent over to check the computer readout at the same  
  
time. Their heads collided with an audible bang.  
  
"Ow!" Chip said rubbing his head, wincing.  
  
"I know you two brothers like to put your heads together sometimes, but  
  
I doubt that's really the best way to do it," a demurely feminine voice  
  
said from the doorway.  
  
Chip turned in the direction of the voice, blinked once in mild  
  
surprise, and then shrugged it off. Pidge, on the other hand, could do  
  
little more than gape. Standing just inside the cafeteria appeared  
  
what, to him, seemed to be an absolute goddess. And, since it wasn't  
  
the princess, it was entirely possible she wasn't taken.  
  
Lisa smiled at them. She was wearing the outfit Nanny had given her- a  
  
dress suitable for daily life in a royal court, but still reasonably  
  
comfortable and just a little bit sexy. It was a strapless,  
  
short-sleeved maroon outfit with a vest decorated in gold accents.  
  
Obviously, it was something the matronly caregiver would never have  
  
allowed her princess to wear, since it wasn't formal enough and showed  
  
off too much of her skin, but it was still quite suitable for knocking  
  
the socks off of a certain someone she had her eye on. Not that she  
  
needed it, but it was nice to have, anyway.  
  
"I agree," Chip said simply. "Pidge's head is much too hard."  
  
Pidge couldn't even make a comeback as entranced as he was by the girl  
  
who had entered their impromptu workshop. "Uh, hi," he said, his voice  
  
cracking slightly.  
  
Lisa blinked at him, wondering what was wrong. Deciding it wasn't too  
  
important, she looked at Chip. "Say, have you, uh, seen Jeff anywhere?"  
  
"Yeah," Chip replied. "He'd stopped by earlier, looking for Ginger. He  
  
wasn't exactly his normal, semi-competant self, though. He was still  
  
wearing his uniform from yesterday... lipstick stains and all."  
  
That shattered Pidge's fantasy. Of COURSE the second-most attractive  
  
woman he had ever seen (after the Princess- er, Queen- of course) was  
  
taken by someone... and of course that someone had to be a Voltron  
  
captain. Well, there weren't too many more Voltron captains to go, were  
  
there?  
  
Lisa blushed. "Oops. Uh, knowing him, he probably already asked this,  
  
but could you not mention that to anyone?"  
  
"We won't," Chip replied, grinning. "But if you're planning to wear  
  
THAT around him, we won't need to- anyone'll be able to see what's going  
  
on."  
  
That was a pretty big flaw in her plan, wasn't it? Oh, well- too late  
  
now. "If we're lucky, no-one will see us," Lisa answered. "If not...  
  
well, we'll deal with whatever consequences as they happen." She  
  
sighed. "Anyway, thanks. See you two later. Have fun."  
  
Pidge watched her go with a heavy sigh. Chip started to turn back to  
  
the work when he noticed his brother's odd mood.  
  
"Hey, Paul," he said, using his given name. "Is something bothering  
  
you?"  
  
Pidge was silent for a moment, staring at the empty doorway. Finally,  
  
he said, "How long until we're grown up enough to win girls like our  
  
respective captains get, huh? I had the biggest crush on the Princess,  
  
and guess who gets her? My oh-so-proper captain, Keith. Then I see a  
  
dream like Lisa, and who's she going after? YOUR captain, Jeff. It's  
  
not fair."  
  
Chip laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, there are a few girls  
  
aboard the Explorer I think you might find are more your type. None of  
  
the Voltron team, but some of our science team's laboratory assistants  
  
are VERY nice-looking, and are still fairly young. A few are your age-  
  
though, since they aren't from Balto like we are, they look a little  
  
older."  
  
Pidge sighed. "That's one thing I really HATE about my ancestry- why  
  
did I have to look like a 12 year old when I was 18?"  
  
"It might help if you quit acting like such a kid, you know. At any  
  
rate, aren't you due for the growth spurt soon, bro?" Chip said.  
  
"You're almost 20, now, right? Isn't that when the 'gene therapy'  
  
treatments we had to recieve to survive in Balto's atmosphere as kids  
  
wear off, and we start growing like hell?"  
  
"Yeah," Pidge admitted ruefully. "And, as much as I hate looking like a  
  
kid, I'm almost dreading the 'maturation process.' I'm going to be  
  
undergoing eight years worth of human growth in eight weeks- and I've  
  
heard it can be VERY painful. You're only a couple of years away from  
  
it, yourself."  
  
"Look at it this way. At least, after you've gone through all that  
  
pain, you'll be able to start picking up girls without getting wierd  
  
looks, right?"  
  
Pidge laughed. "Yeah. Come on, let's get back to work."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Allura watched her husband, wearing a draped over his shoulder and his  
  
fingers twitching against some of his burn wounds as if they wanted to  
  
scratch, pace around their hospital room furiously.  
  
"You're going to ruin all of Dr. Gorma's work at this rate," she noted  
  
in concern.  
  
Keith blinked. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm just thinking." He sat back down  
  
on his hospital bed and sighed. "I feel so helpless, right now." He  
  
looked over at her still lying in her own bed. "And I let you get hurt,  
  
dammit."  
  
Allura laughed slightly. "LET me get hurt? Hardly, dear. And I most  
  
assuredly did NOT get the worst out of this last encounter. And while  
  
we may not be at 100%, I don't believe we are helpless by far. The  
  
Vehicle team is staying with us, and I have a feeling they won't turn  
  
against us after that show of defiance Jeff led. And then there's the  
  
castle defenses, which are still at full strength, and the Explorer,  
  
which can pack quite a punch even as badly damaged as it is."  
  
"Not right now, it can't," came a voice from the doorway. Allura and  
  
Keith both looked to see Jeff coming in through the door. "Mind if I  
  
come in? I figure you won't be able to relax today until we've had a  
  
chance to discuss the military situation, Keith."  
  
"Darned straight," Keith replied. "How are we? And why can't the  
  
Explorer fight?"  
  
"No crew," Jeff explained. "Life support systems gave out a few hours  
  
ago. It's not even safe to work in the atmosphere until we at least get  
  
the ventilation systems re-established, or else the air will grow  
  
poisonous. Repair crews will be working on it with portable air  
  
supplies, but it'll still be a while before it's livable again."  
  
"Hell," Keith snapped. "That robeast did quite a number on all of us,  
  
didn't it?"  
  
Jeff nodded. "Black Lion is crippled. Coran told me that it'll take at  
  
least a week to get it back even into flying shape, and much longer than  
  
that to get it fully functional. Blue has some minor damage, but after  
  
your repair crews worked on it last night it could go back into battle  
  
right now, if necessary. The other Lions, like your castle, were  
  
untouched."  
  
"And your Voltron?"  
  
"Better off than yours," Jeff snorted. "Minor damage to all vehicles.  
  
Most of it was repaired last night, but there are still a few things  
  
like monitors blown out and some ugly-looking scratches to the paint job  
  
to be done. Repair crews are concentrating on the Explorer, now,  
  
though."  
  
"Good. Tell Pidge, though, that if he needs manpower for his special  
  
project, he can pull it off of Black Lion's repair team. His project  
  
has priority, got that?"  
  
Jeff blinked. "Well, sure. But what IS Pidge's 'special project,'  
  
anyway?"  
  
"Hopefully, the key to keeping this whole Doom campaign as short as  
  
possible."  
  
Jeff blinked. "Well, what is THAT?"  
  
"Hey, Jeff?" another voice, this one distinctly feminine, inquired.  
  
Jeff knew who it was right away. He couldn't keep a self-conscious grin  
  
off his face as he turned around to see Lisa standing just inside the  
  
room, leaning against the wall and grinning through her lashes at him.  
  
"Lisa?" he said, nearly choking when he saw how she was dressed. He had  
  
a hard time remembering her in civilian clothes at all- much less in an  
  
outfit like that. "Uh, hi."  
  
Lisa smiled broadly. Some of the notions that first Ginger, and now  
  
Nanny, had put into her head were convincing her to make some...  
  
interesting plans for that morning. That kiss they'd had right before  
  
the battle had definitely helped. "Have you had breakfast yet?" she  
  
asked coyly.  
  
"No," Jeff replied shakily. "But I was at the cafeteria earlier  
  
tonight. It looks like it might get crowded in there." Everyone in the  
  
room knew that what he really meant was that the cafeteria was not a  
  
very private place.  
  
"I noticed. I was going to see if I could arrange for something outside  
  
of the cafeteria- an indoor picnic-like thing, maybe- for breakfast.  
  
Care to join me?"  
  
Jeff swallowed and nodded. Lisa offered her arm, which he (very  
  
gingerly) took, and the pair made their way out of the hospital suite.  
  
Kieth watched them go and sighed. "I suppose I'll have to let Pidge  
  
know, myself. I wonder how long that's been going on?"  
  
Allura laughed. "I don't know. They do look cute together, though."  
  
"I know," Kieth replied. "I used to date Lisa back in our Academy days-  
  
don't worry, though, you have nothing to worry about, it didn't last  
  
long." He grinned at her as she struggled to keep the jealousy off her  
  
face before continuing. "Actually, I knew after the first date that it  
  
wouldn't work out- she was too much like me! I couldn't put up with  
  
someone who had the same discipline and work ethic I did. I figured  
  
she'd be great for Jeff, though, considering he had enough passion and  
  
emotion to balance her out. But I never thought it would actually  
  
happen- they didn't go on a single date during the entire six years I  
  
knew the two of them."  
  
"I never thought we'd happen at times," Allura sighed. "But a female  
  
you -- that's a scary concept."  
  
"Tell me about it," Keith grinned. "So, you're being released today,  
  
huh?"  
  
Allura nodded. "In just a few minutes. I'm coming back here tonight,  
  
though, unless Dr. Gorma says my bed here is needed for some reason."  
  
"How about you give Pidge my message for me?"  
  
A nurse came in, and looked at Allura's chart. With a smile at her  
  
queen, she said, "Well, everything checks out. We'll have someone send  
  
in a change of clothes for you, and then you can go."  
  
"Thank you," Allura said, smiling slightly. "I'll let Pidge know,  
  
Kieth."  
  
"And you, your majesty," the nurse continued, turning to her king.  
  
"Will likely be free to go in the morning... as long as you promise not  
  
to do anything too strenuous. But only if you quit pacing all over the  
  
place."  
  
Kieth blinked. "You... saw me?"  
  
"Half the hospital staff has seen you up and walking at least once since  
  
you've been in here," she informed him. "Now, are you going to relax,  
  
or are we going to have to strap you down?"  
  
Kieth raised an eyebrow. "Now, I don't really know what to think of  
  
this being a king business, but surely I could refuse to let you do  
  
that, couldn't I?"  
  
The nurse smiled slightly. "Well, we might need the Queen's permission  
  
for that..."  
  
"I think you'd better listen to them, Kieth," Allura noted. "I've been  
  
thinking about strapping you down, myself, watching you pace like that."  
  
Kieth's right eye twitched at that as a rather peculiar image of a  
  
scantily clad Allura tying him down onto a hospital bed flickered in his  
  
head. It might be interesting... but he should at least wait until he  
  
was healthy for something like that. Besides, who knew what she would  
  
think if she realized he might actually WANT her to tie him up some day?  
  
"Uh, no, I think I can stop pacing for now."  
  
The nurse blinked at Kieth's sudden change of attitude, until she  
  
realized just what he was thinking. Chuckling, she noted, "Well, I hope  
  
so. Although we'll be sure to sent for the Queen if you don't."  
  
An orderly arrived with Allura's change of clothes, and Kieth sighed.  
  
"Well, guess it's time for you to go, Allura."  
  
Allura grabbed the gown, kissed him quickly on the lips, and headed off  
  
to the bathroom to change. "If you're feeling lonely, just call. I'll  
  
come by if I can, so don't cause a ruckus here just to get my attention,  
  
okay?" she said over her shoulder. "And if I have to come and tie you  
  
down, you aren't leaving that bed for days. Even if I have to sit on  
  
you to make sure."  
  
Allura grinned, catching his blush in the bathroom mirror before closing  
  
the door behind her. She may have been an 'innocent' before her  
  
marraige, but that didn't mean she hadn't learned how to tease a man.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jeff just couldn't take his eyes off of Lisa as they walked down the  
  
castle's maze of hallways. He almost couldn't believe that this was the  
  
same woman he had seen coming back from a battle just the previous night  
  
with singed hair, dirt and oil smudges on her cheeks and nose, and a  
  
cruddy uniform. How had she undergone the transformation from that --  
  
which he found pretty darn attractive anyway -- to this goddess in one  
  
night?  
  
"So, what do you think?" Lisa asked, noticing him checking her out.  
  
"Huh?" Jeff said, startled out of his thought. Then he realized just  
  
what she was asking, and blushed slightly when he realized with  
  
certainty that he had been caught staring. "Um, well... all I can say  
  
is... wow!"  
  
"Thanks," Lisa said. "The woman everyone around here seems to only know  
  
as 'Nanny' woke me up this morning and declared that every girl who came  
  
to this castle deserved a royal treatment, and then she helped clean me  
  
up and found me this dress."  
  
Jeff's eyes focused for a moment, and he shook his head. "Incredible  
  
dress... I'm a bit surprised they have something like that in here.  
  
While it looks perfectly classy, and damned attractive on you, it seems  
  
just a bit too provocative for the type of dress royalty or nobility  
  
would typically wear around here."  
  
"Don't ask me where she found it," Lisa said. "I'm not only surprised  
  
at that, but that she was able to find something like this that FIT!  
  
And how in the world did she do this to my hair?"  
  
Jeff noticed her hair for the first time. He remembered, suddenly, that  
  
when he'd seen her after the battle he was afraid she'd have to cut her  
  
hair short. The fire had singed it pretty badly, but now it almost  
  
looked longer than it had before. No, on second thought, it just looked  
  
at is it had never been damaged at all. Which he was grateful for, as  
  
he loved her hair just as it had been. "I hadn't even noticed, thanks  
  
to the dress. And I hope you take this as a compliment, but your hair  
  
doesn't look any different at all, despite the battle."  
  
"Thanks. They have some pretty miraculous things on this planet," Lisa  
  
noted. "Who knew a treatment for burnt hair was one of them?"  
  
"So," Jeff said. "What do you want to do today, anyway?"  
  
"Well, I think we've got a few things we really need to talk about,"  
  
Lisa suggested. "Then... well, it's up to you, I think. What is there  
  
to do in this castle, anyways?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure. Whadya say we find out?"  
  
"Sure thing... after our little talk," Lisa cautioned. "I mean, we've  
  
kissed and all, but... what are we going to do now?"  
  
Jeff shrugged. "Well, what do you think we're going to do? We're going  
  
to try and see where this relationship will take us. I don't think  
  
there's really much to decide this early in the game, except perhaps  
  
when we're going to go out next and where to go when we do."  
  
Lisa shifted uncomfortably. "Shouldn't we set some ground rules first  
  
or something?"  
  
Jeff shrugged. "Why? I believe in taking things as they come.  
  
Obviously, we shouldn't do anything that'll effect how we work, we maybe  
  
should keep the public displays to a minimum to keep the rumor mill  
  
down, and we shouldn't force each other to do something we're  
  
uncomfortable with. Beyond that, I don't believe in rules to govern our  
  
love lives."  
  
"What I mean," Lisa said, looking even more disconcerted then before.  
  
"Is, well, are we in a committed relationship, or what?"  
  
"Too soon to tell," Jeff said candidly. "If so, it's in it's infancy,  
  
at best. I don't know if this is the start of something which could  
  
lead to the walk down the aisle, or if this is just a summer-fling type  
  
of relationship. I won't know for a while yet. Until we do, let's just  
  
enjoy what we've got and see where it takes us."  
  
Lisa nodded, relaxing slightly even if she felt slightly disappointed.  
  
"I guess that's a good enough plan for now. Let's start by going with  
  
our first plan, and finding out what there is to do around this  
  
castle...."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I understand, Ambassador Yendor," Allura said to the tentacled being on  
  
her monitor. She could see him in every detail, now, as the  
  
interference blocking transmissions cleared up almost immediately after  
  
Space Marshal Graham's transmission had gone through. Seeing the beings  
  
of this race, however, always creeped her out for reasons she couldn't  
  
explain. They were usually a good ally to call upon when her planet  
  
needed help, so she was used to dealing with it, but in this case they  
  
were forced to let her down.  
  
"I am truly sorry, your highness." Yendor apologized. "If you are still  
  
in need of finding a refuge for these people when we've dealt with this  
  
plague, let us know and we'll be more than willing to aid you. It could  
  
speed things up if we were to receive medical assistance...."  
  
"We're a little short right now, in anticipation of the Alliance  
  
armada's arrival," Allura explained. "But I imagine some of the best  
  
medical minds in the universe will be on those transports. I'll see if  
  
any of them will be willing to deal with your situation. They may ask  
  
for a temporary home for themselves and their families on your world  
  
while they help you, however..."  
  
"A few scattered families might be safely managable, despite the current  
  
crisis," Yendor agreed. "Especially if they're helping to end said  
  
crisis. I don't think we could manage more than a few dozen people,  
  
though."  
  
"Again, Ambassador Yendor, I completely understand," Allura said. "But  
  
any little bit helps. Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome, your highness."  
  
"It is 'your majesty' now, Ambassador," Koran noted, walking up behind  
  
his queen. "Or hadn't you heard?"  
  
"No, what has happened?" Yendor asked. Koran and he had been friends  
  
since the early days of Voltron -- in fact, Yendor had been part of an  
  
international team sent in to watch a demonstration of Voltron during  
  
its early stages of flight testing, and had stayed behind for several  
  
years to help tweak things out a bit on the mighty robot. During the  
  
period, he and Koran had worked closely together. Yendor had managed to  
  
maintain contact with Koran, even during the dark period when Voltron  
  
had been disabled, and so was perhaps the first planet to re-open  
  
diplomatic relations with Arus once it had been recovered.  
  
"Our little princess has grown up and gotten married. She's now Queen  
  
Allura of Arus, and you'll never guess who she married!" Koran said,  
  
bantering about with the ambassador in a decidely unformal way.  
  
"Let me guess -- the captain of your team? What was his name... Kieth?"  
  
Koran looked a little surprised at that. "How did you guess?"  
  
"Oh," Yendor laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't see it coming like the  
  
rest of us. Didn't you realize the betting on how long it would take  
  
for them to get hitched had reached inter-galactic proportions? Whoever  
  
won the pool is going to be a trillionare, many times over."  
  
Allura outright gaped at Yendor's declaration. "Were we that obvious?"  
  
she asked.  
  
"Your majesty," Yendor explained gently. "Obvious is a relative term.  
  
But you forget that there are many races in the galaxy which can read  
  
minds... or at least have some minor empathic sense with which they can  
  
feel your emotions. My race, alas, is not among them... but I know many  
  
which are. And even to those of us who don't, there were always little  
  
clues... like how, in formal meetings with ambassadors, you'd refer to  
  
all of the other Voltron force members by their ranks or their last  
  
names, but their captain you constantly called 'Kieth.' Your skin  
  
pigment has always changed slightly whenever you mention him, as well --  
  
and that is something my people are able to see. Not to mention a rumor  
  
I heard on Pollux that someone had seen you two embracing after a  
  
hard-fought victory -- essentially, a combination of evidence which,  
  
while it had spread across much of the known universe, was carefully  
  
kept from ears which may have leaked it back to you."  
  
"Well, I... I mean, we... we, well," Allura stuttered, at a complete  
  
loss for words.  
  
"Your majesty," Koran interrupted. "I am afraid we must move on. We  
  
still have a dozen worlds for you to contact... and I just came to tell  
  
you that Pollux has sent word that Space Marshal Graham and Prince  
  
Bandor will be arriving some time tomorrow afternoon. So we must  
  
prepare for that as well, and..."  
  
"And your queen needs saving from an awkward conversation," Yendor  
  
laughed. "Don't worry, old friend, I'm through embarrassing her. And  
  
our business is essentially concluded -- I won't keep you much longer.  
  
You, on the other hand -- when DO you plan to send me your next move,  
  
anyway?"  
  
"Oh, I've been meaning to for a while," Koran answered unflappably.  
  
"I've just been too busy. Rook to Queen's Bishop 1."  
  
Yendor raised an eyebrow. "A bold move, bringing out such heavy  
  
weaponry from your arsenal. I'll check the board and let you know my  
  
move next chance we get to talk. Good day, your majesty, Koran."  
  
"Good day, Yendor," Koran said, smiling slightly.  
  
"Farewell, Ambassador," Allura said more formally before cutting the  
  
transmission. "Well, that was interesting. And all we got out of it  
  
was a few dozen people moved out -- all of them medical specialists and  
  
their families. I sincerely hope our luck improves."  
  
"Don't worry, your majesty," Koran said. "We've successfully negotiated  
  
for enough worlds to help us that we can manage this crisis. It'll be a  
  
tough fit, but we'll manage. It would help if we could get a few more  
  
worlds on our side, however, so we should still make those remaining  
  
calls before it's too late..."  
  
"Of course, Koran," Allura agreed, changing the settings on the  
  
communications platform to send to the next planet on her list.  
  
"So, why hadn't you told Yendor about your marraige and coronation  
  
before I came in, your majesty?" Koran asked, his expression neutral.  
  
"Probably not for the reason you think," Allura noted, still fiddling  
  
with the controls. "I refused to mention it so that he would still  
  
respect me."  
  
"I hardly think he'd stop respecting you because you got married," Koran  
  
huffed. He didn't particularly like the thought of her thinking her  
  
marraige was a weakness -- even if Kieth wasn't the blood blood which  
  
Nanny and many other nobles felt she should have married into.  
  
"Oh, I don't believe for a second that he would," Allura agreed. "But  
  
he might if he realized that I was queen, as well."  
  
Koran was confused by that. Why would someone lose respect for another  
  
because they ascended the throne? Usually, that made people respect  
  
others more. "I'm afraid you've lost me, your majesty."  
  
Allura laughed. "I'm not surprised. I was wondering, though, when  
  
you'd realize that my coronation to queen didn't increase my power -- it  
  
weakened it. For the first time in history, perhaps, becoming a queen  
  
is actually a demotion."  
  
"I'm afraid I still don't understand."  
  
"Simple," Allura huffed, getting frustrated with the finicky  
  
communications unit and giving up for the time being. "As princess, I  
  
was the absolute ruler of Arus. Nothing I said or did, technically,  
  
could be stopped or overturned. Now, you and I and everyone else in  
  
this castle knows that in fact, you ran the day-to-day operations and  
  
both you and Nanny overrode a number of my decisions before they became  
  
public. However, as far as foriegn powers are concerned... my word, on  
  
Arus, was law. Now, however... my main power is in my veto. I still  
  
have some minor budgetary control, can propose some laws, and can stop  
  
anyone from doing anything I don't want them to do... but if I, for  
  
example, wanted to sign a trade treaty, I'll forever more have to go  
  
through the beauracracy. And that beauracracy can now say 'no.'"  
  
It suddenly dawned on Koran what she was getting at. "Substantively  
  
true, your majesty, but not completely accurate. With the approval of  
  
the prime minister -- yours truly -- any treaty you sign which does not  
  
violate Arussian territorial soveriegnty cannot be voted down. In other  
  
words, you cannot surrender the planet or sell off parts of it, but  
  
outside of that you can do mostly anything if I agree with you. Most  
  
ambassadors are unlikely to know that, it's true. If they don't,  
  
however, they're almost certainly also have failed to grasp what your  
  
promotion to queen means in those terms. If they know enough about our  
  
laws to know that as queen, you lose the power Galaxy Garrison had given  
  
us, they should also know enough about our laws to know what powers we  
  
have as well. Surely you realize this."  
  
"I do, in a sense. But, there's another reason as well..." Allura  
  
hesitated.  
  
"Go on," Koran encouraged.  
  
"Whenever the subject of my marraige has come up in the past," Allura  
  
began, unable to look him in the eyes. "It seemed as if there was this  
  
great plan. I would get married, my new husband would take over the  
  
piloting duties for Blue Lion, and I... would essentially become nothing  
  
more than a babymaking machine, churning out a new royal family to take  
  
over the throne in the event of my husband's death. I'm... afraid that  
  
now that I have actually married, the rest of the universe will act just  
  
that way -- as if I'm no longer really the person with power, that power  
  
actually belongs to my husband. The king. For even if he had no noble  
  
blood before our marriage, he is, after all, a male... and while he may  
  
be needed for the 'process' involved in making a baby, having babies  
  
should be my number one priority." She finally glanced at him, fires  
  
burning in her eyes. "I shouldn't lose my status just because I fell in  
  
love and got married. But I fear I have, so I don't want these people  
  
to know... at least, not until we are through with this critical  
  
juncture." She grinned slightly. "Then, at least I will have  
  
established that I'm still an active participant in the administration  
  
of my kingdom, even if I have married and lost some of my powers."  
  
Koran smiled at her passionate words, but inside felt disheartened. He  
  
knew that he had helped nanny encourage those feeling of inadequacy in  
  
the then-princess by pushing too hard with that one disastrous suitor in  
  
a previous attempt at marrying Allura off. And by arguing so hard to  
  
keep her from flying the blue lion. And by... well, the list went on.  
  
"Allura," he said, surprising he with her given name. "Forgive us. I  
  
hadn't even realized I'd been causing you to feel that way with my past  
  
actions, even though I was only trying to protect you. I doubt that  
  
anyone who has ever had to deal with you in a professional capacity  
  
expects you to just fade away, now that you are queen. And I so want  
  
you to be proud of your marraige...."  
  
"I am proud of my marriage," Allura said wistfully. "As far as how you  
  
made me feel... well, I'll be honest. At the time, it hurt, but I knew  
  
why you were doing it. And I loved both you and Nanny for it, even if I  
  
was extremely annoyed. Nevertheless, what you were doing was a truly  
  
revealing set of reactions from the both of you... and for that reason,  
  
I have come to realize that others may hold those same beliefs as well.  
  
For that reason, I will not explain my marraige to anyone who doesn't  
  
already know about it. I'm not keeping it a secret -- that is  
  
impossible -- but I am hoping that others will not have noticed just  
  
yet."  
  
Koran bowed his head. "Again, I am sorry, your majesty, but I... well,  
  
I.... If you want me to resign, then I understand."  
  
"Don't apologize," Allura said. "Instead, help me avoid the problem in  
  
the future. I'll still need an advisor and prime minister, and in the  
  
future I will need a regent when Kieth and I leave to fight the Drules.  
  
You've obviously learned from your mistakes, Koran -- I don't think  
  
you've complained about me flying Blue Lion in quite some time, and you  
  
were so helpful with my marraige to Kieth.... I really don't want to  
  
have to break in a new prime minister, you know?"  
  
Now, Koran was grinning. "I understand, your majesty. And thank you."  
  
"Now, can you come over here and help me out? I can't seem to figure  
  
out how to open a frequency to planet Ra'algon...."  
  
-------------------------  
  
David A. Tatum  
  
http://davecon.anifics.com  
  
desaix@anifics.com  
  
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	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 

Lisa smiled at Jeff as they returned to the castle's main mess hall that night. They had explored all over the castle, taking in all the sights -- both those preserved from the medieval period of Arussian history when the building had been founded to those added on by the 'modifications' Alfor had done which turned it into a new fortress, star ship, and command center for Voltron. Obviously, there were some places they missed -- Allura, Nanny, and Koran had all been living in the castle all their lives, and there were still places they had never explored -- but they had gone through a nice scenic tour.

Along the way, they had tried to find out more of what there was to do in the castle during off hours. They'd run into staff members who frequently recommended the 'great library' in which had been preserved a copy of every book known to exist on Arus. This was largely because, during Zarkon's occupation of the planet's surface, any structure likely to contain books had been burnt to the ground. Few people took a book with them when fleeing for their lives to an underground settlement, and only the castle library had escaped the razing.

Nevertheless, the treasures of the library weren't exactly the kind of thing they were looking for. It wasn't the kind of place to go to on a date, unless it's a study date... which Lisa and Jeff were definitely not planning on.

Others they'd encountered -- such as the Voltron pilot affectionately known as "Hunk" -- would point out the well-kept kitchens and cafeterias. While the traditional date did include the odd dinner, cafeterias were somewhat crowded. Very crowded now, especially, with the Vehicle team their as well. Since dates usually were better with privacy, they continued hunting for a good place to go.

Pidge, when they had run into him (again) as he was scurrying about looking for spare parts for his top secret project, suggested swimming in the moat. There was apparently a story about swimming as his deep blush attested to, but when asked about it he merely recommended they ask Kieth and Allura about the last time the team as a whole had gone swimming together. At any rate, it was too late by then to get any good swimming in. So, another idea went bust... although that one could possibly be brought up later.

In the end, they gave up and decided to just have lunch (as it had long since passed breakfast time) and ignore all the talk it was likely to inspire. Everyone knew they were on a date by then, anyway, with as many people as they saw. Still, they wouldn't talk about it with anyone, hoping that if they ignored it the rumor-mill would go away. However, eating in the cafeteria seemed a bit TOO public for them, so instead they went to the kitchens. Nanny, spying Lisa with the person she assumed was the 'man' she didn't need to win, gave the young woman a wink, served them a private meal around a small table lit by candlelight, and left the two to themselves.

Sadly, their private time wasn't to last very long. While they were able to enjoy some light conversation over an Arussian-style lunch of savory pastries and sweet wine, they hadn't really had much of a chance to discuss their new relationship before they were discovered.

"Ah, Jeff," Commander Hawkins said upon finding them.

Jeff stiffened. They hadn't talked since his mutinous refusal to use Voltron against Arus. While that had proven to be the correct call, there was no telling how Hawkins felt about it. "Commander," he replied, nodding his head.

"Relax," the commander insisted. "For some unexplained reason, the logs of our... conversation... after the robeast exploded were not properly recorded. Likely damage induced by the explosion. Curiously, I don't remember much of what was said in the confusion that followed, do you?"

Well, that was indeed a relief. "Indeed, sir," Jeff agreed. "It was very confusing."

Hawkins glanced between Lisa and Jeff, suppressing a grin. "Captain Jeff, as you may or may not be aware, there is a formal reception being planned following the arrival of the Polluxian Royal Family. In addition to the royal courts of Pollux and Arus, we'll also have Space Marshall Graham and several high ranking officers of the Polluxian military in attendance. All the pilots of the Lion Voltron are required to be there, as are various local dignitaries and the like. The crew of the Explorer is also invited, though our presence is not deemed as important as that of the Lion team's. Attendance is voluntary for most of our crew, but I'm insisting that each unit captain be present... accompanied by a date. I assume you will be capable of following these orders... without staging a protest, this time, please?" He glanced briefly at Lisa, letting the grin slip out before regaining his stoic control.

"Um, of course, Commander," Jeff agreed, unable to keep from blushing. That subtle dig at the 'forgotten' conversation was enough to make him nervous again, and the subject matter certainly didn't help.

"Attire is formal, but not necessarily uniform," Hawkins continued offhandedly. "We understand that the Explorer's damage will prevent many of us from accessing our wardrobes for some time, so we are relaxing the standard ettiquete for official events and the like. The Royal House of Arus is also providing us with a modest budget to outfit the crew with a few changes of clothing, and the purchase of civilian formal attire for this ball is permitted from it. The exact time is dependant upon how long it takes for the Polluxian contingent to get here, but you should probably be sure that whatever you are wearing is neatly cleaned and pressed by 1700 tomorrow evening, local time. Submit any reciepts to Prime Minister Coran's office for reimbursement. I understand the formal uniform can be a bit uncomfortable, so you may want to go with the civilian option if you find it too confining."

"Yes, sir. I'll be ready, sir," Jeff replied, getting the message loud and clear. He would need to learn to occasionally buckle down and do an unpleasant job, now and then, or he'd be better off working a civilian job.

Hawkins nodded, deciding he'd bothered the young couple enough. "I'll have Sparks inform you when the exact time has been decided. Enjoy your lunch, Jeff."

He walked away, whistling some unfamiliar tune as he left. Jeff sighed.

Lisa smiled up at him. "That was interesting."

"Yes, yes it was," Jeff agreed, thinking of both the 'unrecorded log entries' and the subtle digs about disobeying orders.

"I think I'd like to see what you looked like in civvies," Lisa remarked off-handedly.

"I'm not sure if I want to wear them," Jeff sighed. "But maybe it would be for the best..."

Lisa didn't quite understand what Jeff was getting at, being focused on another matter. She pressed onward. "I've never known you to dance, either. Might be funny to watch you struggle."

That derailed Jeff's train of thought. "Dancing? Um, well, I've taken the few lessons in formal dance required of everyone entering the diplomatic corps. I'm not very talented, but I managed to pass the course."

"So," Lisa mused, deciding on one final hint -- and if he missed this one, he was too dense for her. "Who are you taking to the ball?"

"Huh?" Jeff exclaimed, surprised. "Oh! Of course, if you're willing, I'd love to have you with me. Assuming you want to risk your toes, that is..."

"Thankfully, the military has a pretty good medical plan," Lisa quipped. She glanced him up and down as if evaluating him. "Well, looks like I know what we're doing this evening."

"Er, what?" Jeff asked, astonished.

"Well, I just said I'd like to see what you looked like in your civvies," Lisa pointed out. "If I'm going with you to this ball, I'd better make sure you don't look too out of place. We're going shopping."

Jeff grimmaced. Perhaps there was a downside to having finally taken the plunge in this relationship, after all. "Um, if you insist..."

* * *

Pidge stared at the written authorization he had in his hands in disbelief. "She approved?" he said, the wonder clear in his voice.

"Approved of what?" Professor Page asked. He thought he might ply his services in the medical bay while waiting for his lab on the Explorer to be restored, but the doctors on hand cordially informed him that they had everything in hand and his presence was unneeded. Just as he was about to leave, he had been detailed as a messenger by the Queen of Arus. With nothing better to, he acquiesced without complaint, although he had felt his exclusion from the medical laboratory was a bit unfair. He hadn't read the message he was asked to deliver, and was curious about its contents when Queen Allura informed him that he might offer his services to the boy he delivered the message to. Knowing about Chip's genetic inability to physically mature until a set of medication wore off, he wasn't offended in the least to find he was being asked to 'help' his brother, who also looked to be only twelve. It did irk him, however, to be ignored.

Pidge continued reading the letter for a bit before he realized that the scientist was talking to him. "Oh, sorry. Arus has this breed of 'space mice' which would probably be considered intelligent life, if we did sufficient study to classify them. The Princess -- sorry, I mean Queen Allura has made friends of several of them. She can even talk with them and understand them -- something the rest of us on Team Lion are learning to do, as well."

"Fascinating," the Professor mused. "I'd like to do some studies of them, once my lab is restored."

"You wouldn't hurt them, would you?" Pidge asked defensively. "They're really smart, and have saved our necks a number of times!"

"No, no, nothing like that," Page reassured him. "But I could conduct those intelligence tests for you, if you want. We could get them officially recognized as citizens of the Galaxy Alliance, in fact, if we could prove that. But what do these space mice have to do with your message? Her Majesty seemed to think I would be able to help you with whatever project it was she just 'approved,' although I haven't read the note myself."

"Oh!" Pidge exclaimed, realizing suddenly what Allura meant in her note when she said to 'use the help I am sending you to expedite the process.' He knew of the Professor's qualifications, after all, and it was possible he could be a great help, if Pidge could just decide what to use him for. He glanced around, and decided that his personal lab was secure enough to make it as safe a place as any to explain. "Well, the Pri-- Queen approved a plan Keith had in mind involving the Space Mice. See, about a year ago Hunk and I built them their very own 'Mouse Plane' or, rather, 'Mousetron.' It was just for fun, but we gave it some real defensive capabilities, and the mice were able to use it successfully a few times to help us out. In fact, they've beaten Haggar's cat with it quite a number of times, and saved Voltron from danger once with it. Keith was thinking of modifying it for espionage purposes -- he wants to send the Space Mice to Planet Doom, and have them deliver a number of surveillance devices in strategic locations."

"Fascinating," Page said again. "I assume you've worked out a plan for how this will work?"

"Mostly," Pidge admitted. "The basics for making the plane spaceworthy were blueprinted back when we first built her, but I'm having trouble configuring things to allow for such a long trip with the extra cargo it will need to carry."

"Well, I might be able to help with that," Page suggested pleasantly. "Let me see what you have, so far..."

* * *

Haggar sat in the deepest part of her labrynth. There were so many things she had to work on, she would have no problem filling her every waking moment with activity if she so desired... but at the moment, all she wanted to do was sit and think.

The magnetic storms which had been disrupting communication across almost the entire galaxy ceased with a suddeness which would be hard to explain... if you weren't endowed with the magical abilities of a master sorceress like Haggar. She could feel the magical presence which had produced that disruption as it was snuffed out, and while it hid itself quickly enough she was able to get some impression of who was behind it.

That impression presented quite the puzzle, however. It was... familiar. In a way she was entirely uncomfortable with, it almost seemed like she should know who was behind it... but for the life of her she couldn't figure out who it was behind it all.

Whoever had created the field was using flawless technique. A true master -- possibly even her equal, much as Haggar disliked admitting it. There had only been one person who had been her equal in magic during her lifetime, and that was the late King Alfor. Truthfully, Alfor was even better than she was, but like all 'good' mages his magical signature was incompatible with her own. At first, she had suspected someone from the Galaxy Alliance of being behind the field, knowing what was going on in Earth's sector of space and just how valuable secrecy would be to the Alliance in this time. However, this magic lacked the 'good' signatures she knew would have to be present in any mage willing to work with the Galaxy Alliance. It also lacked evil signatures, as well -- a neutral power, rather than a focused one. Neutral magic was very difficult to maintain, and usually was only found in beginning mages who had yet to pick their path... but this was much too powerful to have been accomplished by a 'beginning' mage.

Truth be told, if it weren't for the complete lack of 'evil' signatures to the magic, Haggar would think it was her own. It was THAT familiar to her. But without them, she could only guess as to who was casting it... and she was coming up empty.

Whoever it was, though, there was something certain she could draw from it: Haggar had been battling Alfor's Ghost to a stalemate for long enough, it seemed. There was a new power in play, and only time would tell whose side it was one... but there was no question about it: Whoever's side it took would win.

And for some reason deep in her bones, Haggar knew that it wouldn't pick her side.

* * *

Allura sat down on the hospital bed next to where her husband was sleeping. 'Husband,' she mused. 'Amazing I can finally call him that, after all this time.'

In the process of making the sleeping man her husband, however, she added more burdens upon herself than she had thought possible. For some reason, being a constitutional monarch was actually more involved than being an absolutist monarch... especially since the previously nonexistant bureaucracy was sending her thousands of trivial questions -- things that had previously been handled mostly by the local townships. Things like taxes.

The National Arussian government hadn't bothered with taxes since Voltron had been rediscovered. Funds came from a mixture of foriegn aid (largely directed by the Galaxy Alliance) and voluntary tribute by the various fiefs such as the one belonging to Queen Orla. Allura's directives to local authorities were enough to handle the civilian reconstruction of most towns and villages, with the occasional boon of Voltron itself's aid to mine raw materials and help supplement the limited construction equipment. The Galaxy Alliance's aid was spent on maintaining Voltron while the tribute was used to pay the staff of the Royal Household and provide for beautification efforts. A simple, but informal, financial structure.

However, having an actual structured government involved complicated matters. Tribute was insufficient to pay the salaries of the governing council and its staff, much less handle the affairs of the royal household. The Galaxy Alliance aid would soon need to be diverted elsewhere, and could not be counted on long-term regardless. Local governments would not expect the constitutionally mandated national government supervision, which would require more layers of bureaucracy. This meant the government required funding, somehow, to 'oversee' what the local governments were doing -- supposedly to reduce corruption and graft, although historically it only added to it.

All of which meant that there needed to be some way for Arus to start raising revenue. Which meant taxes. Which meant a tax service which could conduct audits, requiring another bureaucratic system. Which meant more need for money and therefore more need for taxes. And a budgetting office, so that the money needed to run the maintainence of Voltron (and whatever other military forces Arus rose), the tax service, the oversight committee, the council and its staff, the Royal Household, the beautification efforts, etc. were all properly apportioned.

Additionally, new laws regarding 'property rights' would need to be drawn up, as the entire planet had essentially acted under a squatters system since the Doom invasion which would need to be formalized so that individual and corporate finances could be determined (and so that those taxes could be properly assessed, incidentally). New laws regarding civil rights protections would also need to be drawn up (ostensibly so that those laws governing property rights weren't used to oppress others, although Allura was cynically beginning to believe it was so there would be more reasons for the government to make more laws) as would new laws standardizing civil codes for determining criminal conduct and punishment.

All of these were things not prescribed directly by the current Arussian Constitution, or had been overtaken by events (as in the case of the property rights laws). The old civil codes, tax laws, property rights laws, civil rights laws, and so forth had all been lost when the former council had been destroyed. All would need to be rewritten.

In theory, that was what the governing council was FOR. In practice, however, the 'Advice' of the Queen of Arus was requested, as all records of 'precedent' from which most governments usually worked were lost. And all of these things were supposedly needed right away, before the government (which was already meeting and setting up parlaimentary rules of discussion on its own, at least) could settle down and start governing things.

"Who would want to be Queen of Arus?" she muttered to herself, looking blankly at one of the thirty different proposals for tax law that were all hoping for her endorsement.

"I dunno," Keith said suddenly, rolling over in his bed to look at her. His eyes were bleary and unfocused, but he had obviously just woken up from the first chance he'd had to sleep since the doctors investigating his concussion had allowed him that luxury. "But as long as I'm King of Arus, I don't want anyone but you in that job, got it?"

"Keith!" Allura exclaimed, concerned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," he muttered. "My sore shoulder did when I moved wrong in my sleep. I was hoping to go back to sleep, but I heard you muttering over there. Problems?"

"Nothing wiping out the governing council and going back to being an absolute tyrant wouldn't solve," Allura grumbled. "They want me to figure out the tax problem, but every one of them seems to have their own idea of how I should 'figure it out' for them."

Keith slowly sat up, moving gingerly to keep from jarring his injuries. "Well, we do need a tax system, but isn't that what the governing council was established to do?"

"That's what I thought," Allura muttered. "But I've got proposals to allow income taxes, import taxes, export tarriffs, protective tarriffs, sales taxes, property taxes, luxury taxes, sin taxes, consumables taxes, toll roads, fuel taxes, taxes on families with more than two kids, taxes on families with FEWER than three kids, capital gains taxes, corporate taxes, utility taxes, even taxes on how overwieght a person can be!"

"Hunk would have to make enough money to fund the entire government on his own to pay that tax," Keith joked. "Seriously, you can discount those import taxes, protective tarriffs, and export tarriffs right away. Arus doesn't currently import anything, and we need to nurture those few businesses which have an export industry. Any added burden to them would kill off those businesses, and Arus doesn't need to hurt its own economy like that. Property taxes wouldn't be a good idea to even consider until the laws governing property rights are decided, so throw those proposals out right away, too. Toll roads, fuel taxes, consumables taxes, and utility taxes should all be the exclusive domain of the local governments, so toss those out as well. The whole 'more than two kids, less than three' is ridiculous, and whoever proposed that obesity tax needs to be sat on by Hunk."

Allura paused, then nodded. She used a pencil to scratch off a number of lines on the papers she was carrying. "That leaves income taxes, luxury taxes, sin taxes, capital gains taxes, sales taxes, and corporate taxes."

"Well, there's no way to fund a government exclusively on luxury and sin taxes, although there's no real detriment to our economy to have either in its current state," Keith mused. "And we need businesses and individuals to be successful, so take away those taxes that punish success more than anything -- the corporate and capital gains taxes."

"So, sales and income, then?" Allura asked uncertainly.

"Not with Arus in its present state," Keith answered, shaking his head. "Pick one, discard the other. The Arussian public can't afford the burden of both. I'd suggest we keep the sales taxes and supplement it with a luxury tax. An income tax will only effect Arussian citizens, and we're due to be swamped with almost one and a half billion non-citizens entering our economy. A sales tax would give us the benefit of having the refugees help pay for themselves... and the only people likely to buy luxuries on Arus in the near future are the wealthy Earthmen looking to live like wealthy Earthmen despite being refugees. A behavior it might be a good idea to discourage with high luxury taxes, due to the divisiveness it can cause."

Allura nodded, scribbling down everything he said. "I'm amazed, Keith. How can you know just what I need to solve all my problems?"

"I can't solve all of them," Keith hummed reservedly. "When we were preparing to head to Arus, back before the mission to find Voltron had even launched, I spent some time trying to figure out what sort of system I would establish as an 'interim government' when we got here. I didn't know how much of the original Arussian government remained, but I concentrated on some of what I thought were the basics: Tax laws for a nation recovering from invasion, civil codes, that kind of thing. I doubt that the governing council would accept a stripped down form of a Military Code of Conduct as its civil code, and I hadn't even considered the possibility things would be so broken down there wouldn't even be property rights laws or legal precedent of any kind. Your presence -- and the informal method of handling the economy you were able to maintain as an absolutist monarch -- eliminated the need for much of my work, but I can get you some of the notes I made to handle things like this. It won't take care of everything -- and you can bet the governing council will argue and try to change everything I've done -- but it might give you enough to get them off your back for a while."

Allura's face lit up with relief so brightly Keith wondered where she got the portable star. "Oh, Keith! What in the world can I do to thank you for this?"

He was taken aback briefly, but then grinned. "Well, you don't HAVE to do anything, but there might be one or two things you can do for me in return."

"Name it, and it's done," Allura agreed.

"Well, I'd like a kiss from my wife, for one."

Allura kissed him as deeply as she dared, mindful of the arm resting in his sling. "All my pleasure, I assure you," she replied.

"Also," Keith continued once he got his bearings back. "I understand there's a ball sometime tomorrow evening, to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our friends from Pollux. The doctors tell me I'm cleared to attend, as long as I take it easy. As much as I'd like to beg off, I fear I'll need to go... and I'd dearly love it if I had a date to the ball?"

Allura put a finger to her lips teasingly. "Hm, I think I could trust you with Nanny, I suppose. Last I heard, she hasn't picked out a date--" She just barely ducked the one-  
armed swing of a pillow before it connected with her rump. "But I suppose I could just sacrifice myself this one time, if she's not to your liking..."

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter has actually been completed for a few months. I'd just forgotten to post it here until now... my apologies! 


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